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Need To Knows About Owning and Managing Ranchland

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There are a few different ways to make money owning and managing ranchland. In this article, we have included a few of the best practices for both absentee owners and managers.

  1. Start with a soil test. You will not be able to apply the correct amount of inputs unless you start with a baseline. Too much fertilizer is a waste of money and the wrong pH in the soil will reduce your bale tonnage by a great amount. All my leases require the renter to apply fertilizer and lime as recommended by the county
  2. Keep records. Keep records of how many bales you get per field that will let you go back and see if your production is improving or declining. You won’t know that you have a problem without records. This is especially important if you have a tenant. Knowing this information will help you verify best practices are being used because a decline in production raises
  3. Paddocks. Installing paddocks can improve the animal carrying capacity of the land by a great deal. If animals are just turned out on open range they eat the best forage and ignore the less palatable plants. At the same time, they trample areas that often lead to erosion or soil compaction. With a system of paddocks, we can control how long our animals are on a particulate, ensuring even grazing while allowing the rest of the land to grow without pressure from animals. This method will ensure the maximum grass growth since growth is stunted for two weeks after it is grazed. Using this system, allows the most recovery time.
  4. Water. Watering is easier in some places than others, but some things are constant. It is rarely the best practice to allow cattle in the pond as it destroys water quality and can be dangerous for the young and weak members of the herd. Ideally, it is good to have tanks or troughs that are spread throughout the property to allow for our rotational grazing system. To do this, the initial cost is higher but the investment is usually recouped in a few years; not to mention the convenience of being able to just move to a different tank if there is a problem with another tank which makes it easier to schedule repairs without forcing us to fix it as an emergency.
  5. Goats. Consider investing in goats the first year you acquire a property that has been neglected. They will eat the Russian thistles and some other weeds first while allowing the grass a season for recovery. They are also very helpful in clearing brushy areas that are too overgrown to get a rotary cutter into. Usually, all that is needed is one growing season but with their very mild manure there is no risk of nitrogen burn so it will reduce the need for purchasing nitrogen pellets or liquid. Then, the area will be in much better condition before we introduce cattle or horses to a new range.

     6. Trees. The other technique that I have seen used for long-term wealth building is hardwood trees. In a system called alley cropping, we establish rows of hardwood trees every 80 feet; walnut and red oak trees make a good example. A simple hot wire can protect them when they are young saplings. Soil scientist tell me that having the trees will not reduce the hay production until year eight to ten when they end up being tall enough that their shade and size will begin to reduce the hay production on the range. There is an offset in most cases, if we follow this plan, the timber value at 30 years is greater than the purchase price of the land. This can be an especially lucrative harvest if its timing aligns with the farm owner’s retirement.

This post is part of the 2019 Future Leaders Committee content generation initiative. The initiative is directed at further establishing RLI as “The Voice of Land” in the land real estate industry for land professionals and landowners. For more posts like this, click here. 

About the Author: Tim Hadley, ALC, is an agent with Keller Williams Realty in Gladstone, MO. He joined the REALTORS® Land Institute in 2017 and is currently a member of their Future Leaders Committee.

 

kasey mock

About the Author: Kasey Mock is the Director of KW LAND Division at Keller Williams Realty International. Mock is a member of the REALTORS® Land Institute now serving on their Future Leaders Committee. Make sure to check out his break out session diving further into this topic at the 2018 National Land Conference in Nashville, TN, in March.

Social Media And The Land Professional

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First, we need to lay out the difference between marketing and branding.

Marketing is generally trying to sell a particular piece of property.

Branding is building brand awareness. Think of the tag line “nothing runs like a Deere”. That isn’t meant to sell a particular piece of equipment it is meant to be favorable and memorable for their company.

Now, we can go over some of the many social media platforms and what each is best used to accomplish.

Facebook is the online equivalent of a backyard BBQ. It is an informal place where everyone is at least a friend of a friend. There is a lot of opportunity to market a parcel but remember that it is better to post something intriguing that makes them ask you about it than to go straight into salesman mode. You wouldn’t walk around a BBQ asking “Who wants to buy farm land?” But someone who overhears you talking about touring a cool farm may ask “Where was that?” And it leads to a very natural marketing conversation about that piece of land.

This is an example of how branding can lead to an opportunity to market a specific deal.

LinkedIn is a more formal place to show your professional knowledge. Here is where you have a chance to build your brand. Your goal is become the ag economist of choice. Your greatest opportunity here may be to get referrals from other professionals. If a busy residential agent stumbles across a land listing they may try to figure it out on the fly. However, if you are top of mind as the land expert in your area, it would behoove her to send it to you and collect a referral fee from the expert. The idea is to show how specialized your expertise is and the value you add to a transaction.

Twitter is like a crowded club where you pop in and out of conversations and stay with the ones you find interesting. It is generally better to just do some branding and if they are interested in a particular deal they will contact you through some other means, like a simple phone call. If you create interesting content, people will like your post and possibly share it to their friends. Think about President Trump. He may be controversial, but he adds content consistently that all fits with his brand.

Instagram is similar to Facebook but is nearly all picture-based. It is an effortless way to tell your story. Take that great sunset picture over a pond. Don’t let a gorgeous sunrise go without taking a shot and sharing it. How better to show you spend your days on the land than to share pictures of land? This is a very easy way to build your brand. Then, if someone ask where it is, you can do a little marketing.

YouTube host videos. Remember that people only watch short videos unless there is a super compelling reason sit still for five minutes. A 45-second video with subtitles is better than a rambling 5 minute video. Most videos are played on mute so make sure to add subtitles to grab attention.

Insights for Land Pros

My lowest level and most effective use of social media is as an excuse to Call People!!!!

So, if you see someone on Facebook just got a new car you can click “Like” or you can call and say congratulations. I will venture to say clicking “Like” will not lead to a meaningful conversation. However, a call may very well end up talking about why I need four-wheel drive when selling land. It’s not a stretch of the imagination to see how we can end up talking about the land market next when I’m calling to say congrats on the new car.

Next, you must be consistent with when you add content. If you don’t engage with people, they quit seeing you in their feed. Put it on your calendar to work on Facebook at least five minutes at a time, twice a day to start. LinkedIn moves a little slower, so I suggest adding one or two good pieces of content every week. You need to make it a habit on a small scale before you can become a social media tycoon.

There are less than 100 REALTORS® with more than 50 videos on YouTube today. That means if you can commit to making one video per week, in one years’ time you will be near the top of the list out of all the members of NAR. This shows the amazing opportunities that are available for very little or no cost. What else could you do at such a low cost to be in the top 100 nationwide with no cash out of your pocket? Not much.

I hope this gives you a few ideas that you can implement in your business.

This post is part of the 2018 Future Leaders Committee content generation initiative. The initiative is directed at further establishing RLI as “The Voice of Land” in the land real estate industry and to bring valuable information to land professionals and landowners. For more posts like this, click here.

About the Author: Tim Hadley is an agent with Keller Williams Realty in Gladstone, MO. He joined the REALTORS® Land Institute in 2017 and is currently a member of the 2018 Future Leaders Committee. #cowboyrealtor