Buying a cattle ranch is an exciting and rewarding experience. I love working my ranch lands, caring for my cattle, and spending time outdoors. I enjoy sharing my experiences with my friends, neighbors, clients, and folks who aren't familiar with ranching. So, I wanted to share some practices I have encountered and even implemented over the years regarding the type of management plans property owners may choose to use.
Due Diligence in Property Inspection
To begin, when you are working through the due diligence period and learning about your prospective ranch property, be sure to have all improvements inspected by professionals. Visually evaluating the fences and corrals is very important. Fencing can be expensive, and you will need to know how much repair, replacement, or new installation of fencing the property might need. Having a quality set of working pens is a nice benefit to a property. There are other options than having finished pipe or wooden corrals already built. You can buy heavy-built portable panels and bow gates to make corrals or even buy portal corrals that can be hauled between locations over long distances. They are designed in a folding format with wheels that are all hinged to a center frame that can be used as a lead-up when the wheels are removed and the panels roll out. I have built corrals made from heavy pipe and sucker rods that worked really well with wood posts. I have also paid to have permanent pipe corrals built from continuous fencing panels, welded with clips to pipe posts set in concrete. On another property, I used heavy gauge individual panels to reinforce old wooden corrals. While all options can be effective, it's important to align them with your goals and plans for your ranch and to factor in the costs of any potential repairs when searching for the right property.
Water System Management
Evaluating the water system is a major component of purchasing a ranch. Water is life, so be sure to test your wells and make sure the water system is working properly. Maintaining water on a ranch is the first step to keeping everything alive and healthy. I use wireless cameras with motion sensors to keep an eye on stock tanks around my pastures. You can set them up so motion triggers them to take a picture that is texted to your cell phone, or you can set timers that cause the camera to take a picture at set times each day. Either way, having the ability to check your cameras remotely at any time is very beneficial. On two occasions I have noticed my tanks not replenishing. I was able to call a well-pump specialist when I was five hours away from my land. He was there in a few hours and found that my pressure switch had gone bad. The problem was fixed before the cattle ran completely out of water. The next occasion was in the coldest part of winter. The tank was not refilling when I checked my cameras, so I was concerned. I live an hour from that pasture, so I drove like crazy to find out what was wrong. I found the float chamber had frozen with float stuck in ice at the "full level." So, I broke the ice and used hot water in a Yeti cooler to thaw out the inlet in the float chamber, and we got the tank running again. I live in Pueblo, and the pasture nearest to my home is 15 minutes away. The rest are 60 to 75 minutes away. The solar-powered cameras connected via a cellular signal to my cell phone and computer have made it possible for me to have a full-time job working with buyers and sellers in real estate. My cattle operation is large enough to demand many hours of driving and labor, but technology makes it work much more efficiently. I also installed 3,000 gallons of water storage at the pasture I live furthest from. If the well should stop functioning a valve can be turned that will keep filling the tanks for a little while until I can get help to come work on the system. Knowing the latest innovations and technological tools available can save you time, labor, and money, allowing you to monitor your ranch operation from almost anywhere.