#82 The 3 Strategies to Elevate your Ranching Efficiency and Get More Free Time

Hello, I am Jim Elizondo from Real Wealth Ranching, thank you for listening to this week’s podcast.

Today I will share some valuable insights with you. In this week's podcast, I'll reveal three powerful strategies to reduce your workload while maintaining excellent results on your ranch or farm. Plus, don't forget to mark your calendars because our free masterclass, "Triple your Stocking Rate with Lush Pastures and Thriving Livestock", is just around the corner. It is time to transform your ranching approach for the better. With only one week left, the countdown to our masterclass has begun. This event is your ticket to making informed decisions that will revolutionize your grazed livestock enterprise. Prepare to witness improvements in both land health and productivity, you will also get a Q&A session at the end.

It’s on Oct 24 at 6 p.m. and Oct 25 at 12 p.m. Houston time, the link to save your ticket is www.rwranching.com/masterclass.

If you listened to last week’s podcast, you know that there are important things we need to do in the daily management of our ranch or farm, you also know about the Pareto principle where 20% of our efforts give 80% of our results and 80% of our efforts only give us 20% of our results. 

This means that we need to identify what gives us the highest return for our efforts to avoid diluting our attention by doing too many things and chores that may be unnecessary. Let's address a common challenge: managing numerous small groups of livestock on your farm or ranch. While there may be valid reasons for this separation, it's worth exploring possibilities to streamline your efforts. By consolidating groups, you can significantly reduce your workload and improve pasture management.

Of course, we can come up with many and various reasons to keep these small groups separated from the rest! And it may be valid, but I want you to explore possibilities, and try not to concentrate on the negatives but on the positives first, the negatives we can analyze later, and, maybe, you will find out that those fears or misgivings were not so real after all.

Let’s not spread ourselves too thin and concentrate our efforts on what gives us the best return.

Now, we will go over why having one or two groups of livestock is necessary to avoid overgrazing. I have had students that had over 6 groups of livestock and their days were interminable, they were trying to rotate 7 groups at the same time! Impossible!  Once they started to put together all those little groups their workload diminished greatly AND they were capable of giving longer rests to their pastures. Now, they are growing much more grass and will save a large amount of money on hay feeding this winter.  

Another task that takes time and may not be needed?

Ear tagging of all the calves at birth comes to mind.

Is it necessary to ear tag every calf immediately at birth?

Is it safe for you to handle newborns with the newly calved cow right there beside you? Remember that newly calved cows have hormones that signal them to protect their newborns very high and that, after 2 weeks, those hormone levels drop hugely and they become their former selves again.

So, I ear tag all the year’s babies 2 weeks after the last calf is dropped in a short calving season, and do it in the corral, separating the baby calves from their dams without stress in the way I describe with a video that I have on YouTube called “How we separate calves at weaning” as we also wean them by separating them from their dams in a low-stress stockmanship way. Then, if there are some especially good bull calves that I need to know the number of their dams, it is a simple matter to see to which cow they go to suckle after you finish ear tagging them.

This lowers your stress and chances of getting run over by an over-protective new mom. Remember that we need our cows to protect their calves from predators, so we want them to be protective when their calves are born.

A quick tip: make management decisions as if our livestock numbers were already as high as your plan on getting.

Once we stop doing unnecessary tasks we can concentrate on where our efforts give us the best results.

You will suddenly realize that this life of managing grazing livestock is very enjoyable! We have time to appreciate the beautiful scenery where we work, time to observe, time to watch nature and its wildlife, and time to spend with our family. 

Friends, this is important! We need time to enjoy life to its fullest! 

Once you have all your livestock consolidated, it is important to start applying the principles of the Total Grazing Program which should be implemented gradually. There are certain guidelines that you need to follow and will be explained in the free class, but the basics are to stop or diminish overgrazing to create deep and fat roots on your grasses/forages. This is what will give you the best return on your efforts! Stopping or diminishing overgrazing, you see; every time we return to re-graze a plant before its full recovery we fall into overgrazing, and overgrazing weakens the plant and its roots, making them susceptible to any short-term drought or hard freeze or invasive species. In the Total Grazing Program you will learn how to maintain high quality in your forages in the green season área and to stockpile the rest for the brown season when the grass is no longer growing, this is one of the secrets you will learn in the free masterclass on October 24 and 25.

This is the main reason I want you to attend my masterclass on the 24 and 25 of October, in it I will explain what is needed to triple your stocking rate with lush pastures and thriving livestock. Save your seat and enjoy the free class! I promise you will learn something new and it will change how you see your farm or ranch.

Recap and Conclusions: 

1.  Put all your different groups of livestock together, as much as you can, and for as long as it is possible, be creative!
2. Apply the ear tags on your new calves after they are 2 weeks old, this will greatly diminish stress to cow and calf and will be much safer for you. In the case where you need to know the number of the Dam, you can identify which one is after releasing the calves one by one once they are ear tagged.
3. The total grazing program: A path to sustainable ranching
4. Once your livestock are consolidated, consider delving into the principles of the Total Grazing Program. This gradual approach focuses on preventing overgrazing, promoting deep-root growth in your forages, and ultimately increasing your ranch's resilience to challenges like drought, freezing temperatures, and invasive species. Focus on what gives you the best return for your effort.

As we wrap up this podcast, I encourage you to seize the opportunity before you. Reserve your seat at our free masterclass, "Triple your Stocking Rate with Lush Pastures and Thriving Livestock," taking place on October 24th at 6 p.m. and October 25th at 12 p.m. (Houston time). This class promises to change the way you view your farm or ranch.

Thank you for your dedication to the world of ranching. We look forward to your participation in our masterclass and witnessing the transformative impact it will have on your ranching journey. Until then, may your days be filled with ranching success, fulfillment, and cherished moments with your loved ones!

Secure your seat today at www.rwranching.com/masterclass, and invite fellow ranchers and land stewards to join this enlightening event. Together, we'll embark on a journey towards ranching excellence and prosperity.

May God bless you all:)