This Article is Provided Courtesy of BEEF magazine.
Written by:  Burke Teichert | Aug 02, 2018

Profitability in the cattle business is possible. Here are three ratios that will add cash to your bottom line.

In a recent short video conversation led by my good friend Allen Williams about AMP (adaptive multi-paddock) grazing, Allen asked me what effects AMP grazing would have on livestock economics. Good question—and it deserves a good answer. Any grazing, whether good or poor, has an effect on the soil—either positive or negative. There are no neutrals.

Grazing fits into a total management scheme or system. To be effective, we must manage holistically or, as some people say, use a systems approach. In my articles, I have referred to “Five Essentials for Successful Ranch Management.”

The first “essential” is that our approach to management must be both integrative and holistic. The problem most of us face in trying to use a systems approach is that we fail to do enough integration of facts, ideas, principles, possible methods, etc. to enable a good understanding of the problems or opportunities we are trying to address.

This article is an attempt to help readers understand some of the relationships between how we graze and the potential economic results. Grazing can have a dramatic and profound effect on three key ratios. Now remember that this is a systems or holistic approach. There are other items to manage that also affect these ratios—not just grazing.

Burke goes on to discuss the ratios of Acres Per Cow, Cows Per Person (or Labor Hours Per Cow), and Fed Feed vs. Grazed Feed.

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Burke Teichert, a consultant on strategic planning for ranches, retired in 2010 as vice president and general manager of AgReserves, Inc. He resides in Orem, Utah. Contact him at [email protected].

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