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DosArroyos

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Joined
Oct 17, 2018
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263
Sold every head I had except my eating steer last week.88 pairs,4 bulls,and 9 replacement heifers.The young fellow that bought them is going to lease all my places and some of the places that I was leasing.After a little transition time,that I told him I would help him get familiar with all of the cattle and my farms,then I'm going to take some time to do a few trips with my Wife and a few other things.Can't believe I pulled the trigger on this,but it happened.The crying is not over yet,but I can feel myself already getting used to it.
 
My wife and I are getting to an age where we are starting to think about it, even though at 55 years old we still have some time. But the thought of waking up without a ranch is pretty intimidating.
May I ask how old you are?
 
DosArroyos said:
Sold every head I had except my eating steer last week.88 pairs,4 bulls,and 9 replacement heifers.The young fellow that bought them is going to lease all my places and some of the places that I was leasing.After a little transition time,that I told him I would help him get familiar with all of the cattle and my farms,then I'm going to take some time to do a few trips with my Wife and a few other things.Can't believe I pulled the trigger on this,but it happened.The crying is not over yet,but I can feel myself already getting used to it.
Click to expand...
That has to be tough. Nice they went to a young person and that they want your input.
 
Hmmm I was 67 when we bought this place and moved here. But our operation is set up differently. It is not year around. There are definitely times of the year when we can easily escape to travel if we want to. It is fairly rare that I have to put in a full day. But I have something to do most every day. You have to have something to do. Sitting in the recliner and watching the tube all day will bring on a quick end.
 
Guess every situation is different, I will be 70 this summer and plan to keep ranching for a while yet, I would like to slow down a bit voluntarily not not just because of age,
I have a daughter and son that work with me o that is incentive to carry on. If they weren't here and I had to rely on hired help it would be a different story.
Tammy doesn't seem to care to travel, most of what we have done is a stock trailer tagging behind going to cattle auctions.
 
DosArroyos said:
Sold every head I had except my eating steer last week.88 pairs,4 bulls,and 9 replacement heifers.The young fellow that bought them is going to lease all my places and some of the places that I was leasing.After a little transition time,that I told him I would help him get familiar with all of the cattle and my farms,then I'm going to take some time to do a few trips with my Wife and a few other things.Can't believe I pulled the trigger on this,but it happened.The crying is not over yet,but I can feel myself already getting used to it.
Click to expand...
Glad you are going to do some things, take some trips, etc.
There is life after ranching; but that part of you will never leave.
Don't ask me how I know...
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
Guess every situation is different, I will be 70 this summer and plan to keep ranching for a while yet, I would like to slow down a bit voluntarily not not just because of age,
I have a daughter and son that work with me o that is incentive to carry on. If they weren't here and I had to rely on hired help it would be a different story.
Tammy doesn't seem to care to travel, most of what we have done is a stock trailer tagging behind going to cattle auctions.
Click to expand...
Family that is interested is a good reason to keep going!! It makes a HUGE difference. I'm glad you have that.
 
Myself and most of the neighboring ranchers are age 70+ now. Most of us have adult kids and grandkids that help out. The kids want to ranch but are reluctant to exchange the security of their jobs in town for the financial risks of ranching. My oldest son and daughter in law have partnered up with me. They are buying my brother's share of the ranch so all their ranch income goes towards those land payments. They both hold down high pressure, full time careers in town and are raising a family plus doing more than their fair share of the ranch work. I often wonder how long they can continue to keep up the pace! One or both would need to quit their town job to completely take the place over and that needs to be their choice. I would like to retire soon and bad knees and heart problems may well catch up with me, but for now, we are just taking things one year at a time.
 
I am 67 Sue 64 , My daughter an son in-law Live on the ranch along with grand kids. They have about 1/4 of the cows and help with expenses'. Get some help but not enough to take off for a week or so . Youngest son got a good job , he comes back and runs bud box when we work cows during branding and again in the fall when we preg. He doesn't like the uncertainty of break downs, markets. But he still has a small share. My son in law works at the mill so they got health insurance. we was talking Sussesion with Him and our daughter. Well he backed off just because of ranch debit.
 
Ranching was not my income that I counted on for living.I am an independent oil and gas producer.I own a small oil company.My windfalls in that business bought land as an investment that my Son and I could hunt and fish on.It was mostly recreational land and my Mother ran a few head of cows.When she got to where she couldn't take care of things,I helped more and more.I bought here cows in 2017.She passed away in 2020 at 80 years young.I never bought any cows except her's when I started until I sold out.When I bought her out there were 31 cows and a bull.In 8 years I had turned it into 88 pairs,3 herd bulls,1 heifer bull,and 9 replacement heifers.I don't get any help from my Son and I had gotten to be too big for what the land would run so I was always supplementing their intake.The last 3 years,mainly the 2 prior to last year,we were really dry and I had culled and culled.Those 88 pair were really special.Prices are high and I have some obligations that need tending to in my oil business and I ddn't want to go to the bank and borrow money at these higher interest rates,so I put it out that I was going to sell one of my herds of 29 pair and a bull.Had several people look and one was lowballer and one was just a tire kicker and wanted me to price them.When I did you'd have thought I had just shot his best dog.One of my Son's friends got told about it and he is a major farmer ,but has a few cows.He came and looked them over and asked to see everything and wanted to know If I'd sell everything.I told him to make me an offer.I went home and told my Wife what was happening and she said to sit down and figure out what I have to have before I'd sell.I did and the young man called me 2 days later and made me an offer of $32,000 more than I had in my mind.I didn't even think about it after that.I told him it was a deal.Also got exactly what I wanted for my land on rent for 5 years too.

There is kind of a moral to this story.If you don't really want to sell something then you better not offer it for sale.Someone just might pay your price or more than your price.

The first few days were hard and I would tear up in an instant if I even thought a bit about it.It has gotten better over the last couple days.

I figure I'm in the drivers seat now.After 5 years is up I could buy 20 reg Brangus or Angus cows and start over at 67 years old or I could just keep leasing if I want to.My choices are infinite. I will let y'all know how thing progress.
 
DosArroyos said:
Ranching was not my income that I counted on for living.I am an independent oil and gas producer.I own a small oil company.My windfalls in that business bought land as an investment that my Son and I could hunt and fish on.It was mostly recreational land and my Mother ran a few head of cows.When she got to where she couldn't take care of things,I helped more and more.I bought here cows in 2017.She passed away in 2020 at 80 years young.I never bought any cows except her's when I started until I sold out.When I bought her out there were 31 cows and a bull.In 8 years I had turned it into 88 pairs,3 herd bulls,1 heifer bull,and 9 replacement heifers.I don't get any help from my Son and I had gotten to be too big for what the land would run so I was always supplementing their intake.The last 3 years,mainly the 2 prior to last year,we were really dry and I had culled and culled.Those 88 pair were really special.Prices are high and I have some obligations that need tending to in my oil business and I ddn't want to go to the bank and borrow money at these higher interest rates,so I put it out that I was going to sell one of my herds of 29 pair and a bull.Had several people look and one was lowballer and one was just a tire kicker and wanted me to price them.When I did you'd have thought I had just shot his best dog.One of my Son's friends got told about it and he is a major farmer ,but has a few cows.He came and looked them over and asked to see everything and wanted to know If I'd sell everything.I told him to make me an offer.I went home and told my Wife what was happening and she said to sit down and figure out what I have to have before I'd sell.I did and the young man called me 2 days later and made me an offer of $32,000 more than I had in my mind.I didn't even think about it after that.I told him it was a deal.Also got exactly what I wanted for my land on rent for 5 years too.

There is kind of a moral to this story.If you don't really want to sell something then you better not offer it for sale.Someone just might pay your price or more than your price.

The first few days were hard and I would tear up in an instant if I even thought a bit about it.It has gotten better over the last couple days.

I figure I'm in the drivers seat now.After 5 years is up I could buy 20 reg Brangus or Angus cows and start over at 67 years old or I could just keep leasing if I want to.My choices are infinite. I will let y'all know how thing progress.
Click to expand...
Did you keep the hunting privilege for yourself?
even if you don't plan on shooting something you could still go there for quiet time.
 
Between when I retired and we sold out over on the coast and when we bought this place and moved here. We spent 9 months in south central WA. I helped a shirttail relative of the wife's who has a ranch for something to do. When we were buying this place people asked him why at our age were we buying and moving to a ranch. He said he told them if he had to explain it that they still wouldn't understand.
 
DosArroyos said:
Yep, Only leased the grass and what little cultivation I have.Told him that him and his kids were welcome to fish,but no hunting.
Click to expand...
It sounds like a good plan to me. I think it is great when ranches can stay in the family, but that seems to be a thing of the past.

Although, one old family ranch and farm in Texas was sold off 50 years ago, all us grandkids still have mineral rights. Pencils out to 1/32nd each and we had it leased once and got about $2K each a year for three years. They were going to drill and make us all millionaires, but the guy running the oil company leasing it, went to prison for embezzlement. It turns out his geology reports were fake and he never could find anyone willing to gamble on a wildcat estimated to cost $5 million.
 
I'm reading a book right now about a family ranch that has survived through the years and is still owned by the descendants of the original founder. It's called "My Ranch Too" by Mary Budd Flitner. It tells the story of them ranching through the years starting at the very beginning, 1878, up to the current times. I haven't read it all
yet, but she talks about how difficult succession was. "You can run this ranch like you want, after we are dead,
but we aren't dead yet."
 

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