Experience is worth everything when it comes to ranching. Wyoming native and longtime ranch manager, Burke Teichert, has tons of experience, managing ranches across the West and in Canada and Argentina. Now retired, Teichert spends his time as a contract manager, consultant and speaker.

Burke Teichert

Recently, Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition brought Teichert and his ranching wisdom to Nebraska on an eight-stop, four day tour of the state. At one of the tour presentations in Bloomfield, Teichert told producers the five essential ingredients to successful ranch management include an integrative and holistic approach; striving for improvements of key resources; good analysis and decision making tools; a war on costs; and an emphasis on marketing. Here are Teichert's top ten quotes of wisdom from his presentation.

1. "Realize the interconnectedness of everything."

2. "You have to be a systems thinker."

3. "I want my expenditures to be worthwhile, so I use my inputs wisely."

4. "Don't allow missed opportunities just because of every bad winter or every summer drought."

5. "Your production and marketing plans have to fit together."

6. "You need to have the right cows."

7. "Good analysis helps you look at scenarios and ask 'what if?'"

8. "There is a huge difference between high cost producers and low cost producers."

9. "Always have a drought plan and a heavy snow plan."

10. "It's all about land health and how quickly you can bring that back."

To learn more about the tour and Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition, visit the organization's website at www.nebraskagrazinglands.org, or contact NGLC coordinator, Ron Bolze at 402-321-0067. If you'd like to learn more details about what each of these comments means, watch for an upcoming related print article in Nebraska Farmer.