Decisions Made in Good Times

It is a good time to be in the cow-calf business. Most ranchers are making good profits across the Pacific Northwest. Depending on their age, they may or may not remember past difficult times in the industry and that can sometimes be a challenge as they make decisions today that will affect their operation's future.

I visited with Northwest Farm Credit Services Relationship Manager Andy VanderPlaat about what ranchers should be considering if they have more profits this fall.

VanderPlaat says it does depends on the individual rancher's situation and where he maybe financially.

VanderPlaat: "If things have been tight the last several years, they should hold on to some cash -- or working capital -- so when prices do decline or things change then they are in a good position to continue forward. The second thing is if there are some debts hanging out there they should pay that down. If they are not in a place where they need to pay debt down or debt is pretty low than I would say they probably need to replace some equipment. Sometimes when times have been tight we put off those replacements and then pretty soon we find our equipment is old or obsolete. It could improve efficiencies like those upgraded feed trucks or just different things that can improve efficiencies in the operation. That is when those investments should be made."

We will continue our conversation with Andy VanderPlaat tomorrow.