Who Are You Managing For?

The philosophy of low input ranching is built around using management to take the place of high priced inputs. This management is based on the natural world which existed without the hand of man. In using this as our guide we can then do what is necessary to get the most good from our plants and animals. In thinking about this I realized that status quo ranching (what we have been doing for the last 40 years) is using management by someone else. We are playing someone else’s game. When playing a game with rules written by folks selling inputs, the only one that truly wins are the rule makers. That means we have bought into their management scheme which is based on use of their products. These inputs are legitimized by research dollars flowing from company profits to Universities looking for money. That means most farms and ranches are being run using management from big agribusiness, which is to their benefit, not yours. This is close to the old “company store” concept of always being held in debt to the “company.” It may now be done freely, but a person is still in “debt” because his cattle, being diminished in “natural” abilities, are dependent on “purchased” resources from the company. As survivability, plus disease and parasite resistance are further depleted by this system, the “company” gains more control over ranch management. An even higher level of inputs is then sold to the ranch, thus maintaining management direction.    Th