r/Ranching

We provide a house, utilities, vehicles, beef and other equipment as required, along with a salary. 

Duties Include, but are not limited to: 
- Caretaking house and yard, general maintenance of grounds around the property 

-Fencing for the ranch, required to learn locations and follow directions 

-Feedlot and calving work from around November-May of the year 

-Small scale farming, replanting and field work after pastures are used 

-Other ranch duties 

Skills Required: 
-Organizational skills, be neat and clean in living and work areas

-Hauling livestock, UTV’s, other operating equipment such as skid steer and tractor
 
-Light mechanical skills 

-Chainsaw, hand tool use, light carpentry (if possible) 

-Repair/maintenance of gas-powered hand tools
 
-Basic knowledge of fencing in rangeland or a willingness to learn 

-Other basic ranch work skills are valued 

Ranch: 
We are located in Central Idaho, near the confluence of the Snake and Salmon River.  We are a medium sized cow/calf/yearling operation.  For more info, please send a DM.

Ranching related things.

I'm opening a dude ranch in Tennessee. I was wondering if any of yall got ideas of stuff we can put on it. Not a whole lot of land, just 10 acres. Also no mountains or anything, I know people to to see mountains a lot of the time. Any ideas? All are welcome, I've got nothin. Games, BBQ dinner and line dancing. Obviously trail rides.

Anybody else here struggle? I’ve accomplished almost everything I’ve ever wanted. Managed a ranch, been a cowboy, done the feedlot thing, served in the military, hell I had a handful of my own cows for a minute but I just struggle day to day with myself. At first I wrote it off as burnout but the longer I go on the worse it gets. To the point I have trouble getting out of bed and when I finally do I’m usually in a bad mood. I can’t imagine doing anything else for a living and I don’t want to raise my kids anywhere other than the ranch. I’m very good at what I do and most days the cattle are what keeps me going. This lifestyle has ruined relationships and a marriage for me and I’m not sure if it’s even worth trying to find a good woman anymore. None of them want a man that works this way and the ones that think they do tuck tail and run come calving season. I’ve struggled with alcohol for a long time and I’m sure that has contributed to it greatly. Not looking for a therapist here just trying to get some stuff off my chest and see if I’m alone out here or if there’s other folks here feeling the same way or fighting the same demons.

I just started a new Job at a feedlot today and it's unlike anything I've ever done. Full industrial scale operation, 10,000 head of cattle, 60 pens, and a few thousand acres. I've done farm work before but nothing as professional as this. Anyways the first day didn't go as I expected. Started off with simple cleaning jobs and after a few hours they had me picking up garbage in a couple pens. The first mishap was then. Now I was working all alone the entire time and didn't know the lay of the land at all so I asked around a bit. Because of a miscommunication I ended up cleaning the wrong pens, when Boss wanted me to clean 4 different ones. This wasn't a big deal and I quickly did those pens he wanted. After that he sent me to patch fences and pickup any fallen boards. I did a quick passover of the place in about an hour and asked another worker if I should grab and cut some lumber to fill the gaps, I also asked if I should re nail every board that's not doing very well. Both these coworkers told me that what I did was good and that nailing all those boards was more of a rainy day task and we'd get to it another time. I then asked what I should do and they told me to call the Boss. I called him and he said to come in for coffee, in the middle of break he called me to come look at the fence and then got really mad at the work I did. He said if you're gonna do something do it effing right the first time. I was mostly unfazed and said I would get right to it. Worked for another hour then went home. An older coworker there said I did good work and the place looked much better than before, but my boss seemed disappointed. Anyways I don't know what to make of all this as when I got hired I explicitly stated I have little to no experience in agriculture and have just done a couple of years of landscaping and carpentry. It almost feels like he expected me to be like one of his main cowboys.

TLDR: Boss disappointed in me first day, coworkers seem to think I did fine. I'm a bit bummed at what the boss said to me as I thought I did good.

Hi all! I know this is probably kind of silly but it’s been something I’ve been wrestling with. I’ve been in the business for 4 years now, working alongside my grandfather as my mentor and helping him out as he gets older on his beef operation. The first year I was on the farm there were 2 bottle babies I had to take care of, one of which being a steer that was quite literally on deaths doorstep several times and I fought so hard to keep him alive and he fought to stay alive. I learned a lot with him. However I being naive and new to farming got very attached to him. Well, this was 3 years ago and now he’s butcher size. My heart cannot handle sending him to auction, and I do not want to butcher him myself so I’m trying to sell him privately somewhere for them to butcher him themselves. I guess my question is, how do you separate the emotions from something like this?

I am 100% aware that his purpose is meat. I am not naive to this anymore, but I definitely was when I first came to the farm. I don’t get attached anymore, but this one is weighing heavy on my heart.

I would love to hear any similar stories and how you handle something that weighs heavy on your heart like this. I know the reality of all of this, so please don’t reiterate it to me. I learned the lesson the hard way. I know if you want to be a cowboy you need to do cowboy shit, but man this one hurts. Thanks all 🐄

Over the years the amount of $$$ spent on them really adds up so I just wanted to know what other people were doing.

Hope your fences stay up and your water troughs full.

So, i'm a 15 year old living in the Denver suburbs. I'm really interested in helping as a sort of herdsperson. If anyone in that area has some kind of livestock that need a bit of extra care, feel free to dm. If you do, a few things you need to know. 1. Flexible hours. I'm still in school and I might have related things to do as well. 2. Pay. I really love animals, but I'm not going to do your work for you and just leave. Even if it's $10 for 2 hours, a bit of cash is better than none. Anyway, thanks for reading this and have a good one!

What is everyone’s break even on keeping a bull in a small cow calf? Right now I have about 10 breeding cows. Is there a particular number you follow with number of breeding livestock? We have done the AI for a few years, and it does work, but cutting out some of those logistics and keep a bull would be nice.

I realize there are a lot of variables in the equation, but any input would help.

I’m in the southeast area, I’ve considered trying to finish the jerseys I raise from birth and sell for beef. What am I looking at getting into selling 1/2 and whole cows? Are you getting deposits? What’s the going rate on hanging weight? What’s the best way to charge and handle this? Thank you in advance.

Do you just let it go and hope your stallion or mare doesn't understand human language?