Do you own a ranch?

[Stocker]

Kids raise a handful of pigs. Buddy of mine wanted to raise some so he could claim ag on his taxes. Told him won't work like thar but ok and got him a couple. He raised two pigs bought all the feed from the feed store. Told me he thinks he got screwed because he didn't even break even. Welcome to farming 101 dude.

Gee, that guy must be a good farmer. First time around and he almost broke even. He belongs in the farming hall of fame!

 

[Stocker]

Old joke my grandpa and his buddies always told me when I went to the sale barns with them.

You know the best way to end up with $1,000,000 farming, ranching, or feedings cattle?




Start with $2,000,000

 

[westbranch]

I think it has to do with a combination of earning and living or attempting to earn a living on whether it is an actual farm or ranch. Someone with 20 acres with produce and some chickens and livestock can have a nice little farm operation. Ranch vs. farm also seems to west and east of a line going from middle of ND heading south and then shifting east when it gets closer to TX.

Me when people are talking about growing up on a farm when they had a few chickens and goats and fed out a steer every other year:

 

[hank4elk]

There's a place just north of me, 180k acres with 300k total with leases. I don't consider it a ranch.
It's a Texican tax write off.

 

[TOGIE]

my aunt and uncle have 35 acres down in northish black forest colorado. horses their whole lives. been trying to get em to board llamas for me.

we just call it "the ranch" cause what else would we call it? who cares.

they call em "horse farms" out in kentucky. for some reason i always found that odd.

 

[Nick87]

Gee, that guy must be a good farmer. First time around and he almost broke even. He belongs in the farming hall of fame!

Right lol

 

[WesternRookie]

Ranch in the west....most often raises livestock and relies on managing natural landscape with some cultivation
Farm in the east....raises livestock, row crops, or wood products.

The United States Department of Agriculture issues a Farm # if you enroll in any of the conservation programs through NRCS, like EQIP. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/eqip/

I don't know any landowners who do it to impress anyone, or who go around bragging about how many acres they have. It's just a way of life.

 

[Stocker]

Back in my drinking and being a doucher days, (yea, worse than now) wife and I went to Omaha with some friends. The girls got a little drinkish at dinner and wanted to go to some cowboy dance hall bar thing. Me not being a fan of loud noises and lots of people am immediately looking to start trouble and get thrown out. The bouncers are all dressed up like cowboys, hats, chaps, the whole costume. So I walk up to one and I’m a snarky voice say “so how many cows to run?” He looks at me obviously annoyed and says “oh usually 2-3 a night”. I’m sure he’d gotten similar grief from every s*^t- kicking young farmer that has cattle that came in there. Pretty hard to start a brawl when you are laughing because you just got zinged.

 

[ImBillT]

edit: I can't do math, hold on.

25 countries don't qualify for Ranchood.

But likely do qualify as unfriendly toward Russia.

 

[MTTW]

You know it is a ranch when you ask how big it is and they answer with how many cows it will feed on a decent moisture year.

 

[HighDesertSage]

I had to correct my wife when we first met. She told me she was a 4th generation rancher, as her and her family run cows on their 3500 acre property in the Southern California mountains. I kindly set her straight and reminder her that since she is in CA, it does not count. Also, not one of her faimly members (grandpa, grandma, uncles, aunts, mom, dad) wears cowboy boots or a cowboy hat. Total fakes. It's been 14 years since her little attitude adjustment and we get along great.

 

[ImBillT]

There are 30 million people in Texas, a few thousand (maybe) own, or have family that owns, more than 400 acres. Most of us Texans are completely full of .

My county is roughly 913 sections. Many of them owned by different owners. Probably a few hundred landowners with more than a section in this county alone. There must be at least a few thousand people in TX who own more than 400 acres.

 

[Redman]

No ranches or ranchers in Indiana just farms and farmers. It is a geographic thing. South Dakota has both farm and ranch and it isn't necessarily a straight line through the state. Then there are the plantations in the South.
Back when I was a kid there were farms everywhere. Now the farms have sold to a big farm and the old farms bulldozed and turned into fields, fence rows cleared out and one field is now only separated by a county road. The farmers now have farm hands that do the work and the farmer makes the business decisions. I notice in the West ranches are being developed or divided up into smaller ranches. Seems like East and West have flipped when it comes to the size of ranch/farm. It hasn't been a good thing here for hunters that rely on private land to hunt due to la k of public land. It hasn't been good for wildlife because all the fence rows, small patch woods, and ditch/creek areas cleared and or straightened.

 

[RobertD]

I identify as a rancher trapped in a poor man's body!

Got it backwards, supposed to identify as a poor man in a ranchers body.

The big acreage owners in TX call non contingent parcels without a homestead mesquite pastures.

I heard this phrase used in Maverick County. 1000 acres of mesquite country with barbed wire surrounding is a pasture. I was looking for the grass

 

[Redmt]

We have nearly 50 acres in the Back Country bordering Stanislaus County. I never called it nor considered it a "ranch". It's a great place to raise kids and be insulated from THEM! It's also a great place to walk around with your favorite rifle and pop the occasional piggy when the freezer runs low.

 

[jryoung]

I own a duck club with two brothers, one is my friend....his brother is an okay guy, but a bit of a pedant. Their family owns 350ish acres that my friend calls "The Dirt" because it's 350 unfenced acres with no power and two basic 14x20' tough shed cabins....it's a delightful piece of dirt.

The brother calls it "The Ranch" and being the pedant he is, he corrected me when I called it the dirt....."it's a ranch".

Really, I said, what exactly do you "ranch" there?

We could run cattle

Could, but you have no fence, no infrastructure, no water, it rains less than 10" a year and 2/3 of your acerage is dense chaparral.

He also thinks we can keep our ponds full year round at our club because we can just set up a solar array and pump water all day....because there's a well.

 

[hank4elk]

My buddy in WI farms 3000 acres, by himself mostly. Had a thousand head of beef there a few years back.
I got one of his farm shirts this year and wear it. Even has my name on it, lol. Old worn uniform work shirt.
Some one asked about it the other day. I said I am the rep for the NM subsidiary...LOL
Word is out farmers are moving in. Buying everything up.

 

[RobertD]

Then there are the plantations in the South.

And just like ranches out west, there is debate about what constitutes a plantation. Plenty of people who own 400 acres of mostly scrub hardwood or young planted pines that slap a sign out front that says "(Insert Native Word Here) Plantation" the first year they buy it. Right down the road will be a plantation that's got 6,000 acres of long leaf pine and has had the same name since the 1840s.

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

You best be a good farmer if you want to be a rancher. Here they're just called outfits or places.

 

[noharleyyet]

Got it backwards, supposed to identify as a poor man in a ranchers body.


I heard this phrase used in Maverick County. 1000 acres of mesquite country with barbed wire surrounding is a pasture. I was looking for the grass

SIL leases just over 1000 acres...year before last he had to move 80 head to another spot. With normal moisture it'll feed em.