It's not often I write a story without going to visit a producer and look at his production, the grass, the cattle and so forth.

Steven Lukefahr of Kingsville in South Texas is an exception.

He keeps records so extensive that he has published data about his ranching operation in scientific journals and uses it in his teaching at Texas A&M University–Kingsville.

He has pictures, charts, data and a business plan.

He is decreasing costs and increasing production and profit all at the same time on a small, part-time operation.

I'm working on feature stories on Lukefahr's operation for possibly January and February in Beef Producer, and maybe earlier online.

His record shows once again that the right kind of management is more important than economies of scale, which is the only requirement some economists claim can give beef operations any advantage.

Here are some of the successes that make his story so intriguing.

Lukefahr does not count labor against his operation, but he does count all his lease costs and all other costs, including his driving expenses to properties miles from home.

So, to summarize Lukefahr's accomplishments, he has taken a small operation and created extremely low cow costs, a forage management plan that builds drought reserve and slowly builds stocking rate, and all on the side from his day job. This is rare.

You can read more about what he is doing and why he does it on his website: https://lukefahr-ranch.com/