Indiana pasture owners and forage producers will learn how to transform pastures into businesses and how to successfully transition their operations from one generation to the next at a workshop on June 14 at the White County Fairgrounds. The workshop, Ranching for Profit — The 3 Secrets for Increasing Profit, will be conducted by Dave Pratt of Ranch Management Consultants and is being sponsored by: Alliance Bank, Carlson Crop and Hail, Dairyland Seed, Farm Credit Mid-America, Fisher & Associates, and Garrot-Keller-Conrad Insurance Agency. Anyone with livestock on pasture, including beef, swine, poultry, goats and sheep, and who is interested in taking a more businesslike approach to their farm is encouraged to attend.

Pratt is the president and CEO of Ranch Management Consultants, which has offered its Ranching for Profit School throughout North America for over 25 years. Prior to RMC, Pratt worked as a range and livestock adviser with the University of California Cooperative Extension Service for 14 years, researching management-intensive grazing and strategic issues impacting the profitability of ranches. 

Pratt will ask participants to think about their pastureland as a business. He will also explain the three secrets for increasing profit and share RMC’s seven-step profit-planning process.

Raise animals for profit

Additionally, participants will use RMC’s profitability benchmarks to identify “deadwood” and pinpoint “profit drivers” for their own pastureland. The goal of this workshop is to help attendees think about transforming their pasture-based livestock operations into real businesses with increased profit, less work, and a more successful approach to management and ownership succession. To learn more about Pratt and RMC, visit ranchmanagement.com.

This program will be held at the White County 4-H Community Building at 12 N, 25 E, Reynolds. Registration for the program will begin at 8:30 a.m. EDT, with the program following at 9 a.m. This workshop will include the Ranching for Profit seminar with Pratt, followed by a catered lunch. After lunch, attendees are invited to participate in a pasture walk with Pratt at Holy Cow Farm Fresh in Monon at 10498 N, US 421.

The cost to attend the program is $50 for the first member of the farm or business and $10 for each additional member. Space is limited and interested participants should RSVP to the Purdue Extension Office of White County at 219-984-5115 or [email protected] by June 1. Payment will be accepted at the door. This workshop will be filmed for a documentary project about the role of animals in sustainable agriculture. There will be releases to sign when you arrive. Anyone not wishing to be filmed can let the crew know.

Source: Andrew Westfall, Extension ag educator in White County, Ind., which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.