Even
though I’ve owned cattle since I was a sophomore in high school I’ve
never been a “rancher.” I had my first “cow herd” as a junior in high
school consisting of 4 registered Angus heifers and a bull and my first
job out of college was being a cowboy, But I still wasn’t a rancher.
Even when I had 100 cows, two loads of stockers on grass and 100 head of
fat heifers in a feedlot I never considered myself a rancher. A
cattleman? Yes. A rancher? No.
Even
though I aspired to be one ever since I rode my first horse, I never was
a rancher because I never owned a ranch. Although I had all the
accouterments: a Stetson, silver buckle, boots, a cow dog to ride in the
back of my truck, a rope, spurs, a pair of hay hooks and a brand (US on
the right hip), I never had that one thing that would make me a
rancher: real estate.
Ever
since I got my first subscription to a cow newspaper as a kid, I
yearned to own one of the ranches advertised for sale. I drooled over
ranches and dreamed of one that I wouldn’t have to drive for half an
hour to get to. I desperately wanted a place I could build a proper
handling facility and a decent shack for my wonder horse Gentleman. But
who wants to make improvements on a leased ranch that belongs to someone
else? And so I got by with facilities that made me the laughing stock
of the county. You can imagine the ribbing I took every time they helped
me work cattle in corrals that included a set of bed springs, a dairy
stanchion and the hood of a ‘56 Cadillac. (The dairy business must have
been good in 1956.)
I looked for a
ranch that made economic sense but never found one. If I did buy a place
that cost five grand per cow/calf unit I wouldn’t have any money left
to stock it. That’s another thing I’ve never had that many ranchers have
and that’s a bank loan. I didn’t want the cows to own me so I haven’t
financed one hoof of livestock ever since I had to buy my first steer
with a bank loan that gave me ulcers when I was 16!
We
don’t go in debt for anything. We’ve owned our own home outright for 35
years and have started eight successful businesses and every one was
self-financed. I have no doubt that using OPM (other people’s money) I
could have been a big shot by now, but I’m terribly insecure. I’ve been
poor before and didn’t like it much.
There’s
other reasons I can’t be called a rancher. I’ve never owned an ATV,
cattle truck, or tractor nor do I have any desire to do so. And because I
never hired anyone to do something I could do, I’ve never had a
hired-hand either, although my wife would argue that point.
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