A One day workshop with Dave Voth in Jackson, CA
A couple weeks ago I attended a free one day workshop version of the Ranching for Profit School taught by Dave Voth. The workshop was hosted by Amador County RCD and sponsored by Halter. I was very grateful for the fact that the whole workshop was free and even included lunch. Without funding, it would have likely cost around $250 per person. Which, although it would have still been money well spent, would have likely reduced attendance and therefore we would have missed out on some of the great conversations that make these workshops so valuable. I was glad to see so many producers in the room, including multiple generations of a few operations, as well as a few husband and wife and sibling operations as well.
The day started out with a letter written by a rancher to Dave Pratt, RFP founder and presenter. The rancher runs around 300 cows with his family and is struggling to make ends meet, and “get ahead”. We analyzed the letter a little bit to start and gather what we actually know from the letter. What are the facts? Things like, they have 300 cows, and that him and his son do not always agree. His son is suggesting selling the cows and running stockers instead. After some discussion, many folks in the room can relate. Next we get a look at some numbers, the input costs, and sales. This drives a conversation on what this family could cut out to make their numbers look better. There are a lot of ideas in the room, but also a lot of questions as this spreadsheet certainly doesn’t paint the whole picture. After some good conversation, Dave explained the difference between “overhead costs” and “direct costs,” and as a group we started debating what goes in what category. The takeaway was that direct costs are something that go up with units of production, and overhead costs do not. However, at the end of the day, if you can’t figure out where it goes, put it in direct, because it doesn’t really matter too much. Little tips like this are helpful in keeping things simple. Dave explained that he has the “5 second rule.” If you can’t figure out which category it goes in within 5 seconds put it in direct.
Dave discussed some other key topics from RFP, like “working in the business” vs. “working on the business”, or WITB vs. WOTB. Both require different pay rates to yourself, What are you spending your time doing? Do you have a job or a business? These are the types of questions RFP forces you to ask yourself. There is no one-size-fits-all business model for every ranch, but I guarantee after taking a RFP course, whether it is just one day or the full week, you will look at your operation differently, and hopefully for the better.
Taking a one week course and trying to fit an overview into one day is tough. This was really just a taste, but it left me with a lot more questions than answers. Ecology and grazing management was only briefly touched on at the end of the workshop. Grazing management and ecology play a major role in the economics and profit of a livestock business. We operate biological systems, with live animals, live soil, live forage and are very weather dependent. We are limited by land access, rainfall, and growth rates of animals to name a few things.
Amador County RCD is planning to put on another RFP workshop in January, potentially for two days this time, with one full day dedicated to grazing and ecology specific to California rangelands. I am looking forward to attending and hope to see you there!
For more Ranching for Profit learning opportunities: https://ranchingforprofit.com/rfp-school/
Amador RCD Event Page: https://www.amadorrcd.org/events-news