Ranching for Profit
University of Idaho Extension is organizing a Ranching for Profit workshop that will prepare western ranchers to sell directly into local and regional markets and boost their profitability.
Ranching for Profit is a Wheatland, Wyoming, corporation that offers business-management education to ranchers. Ranching for Profit instructor Andrew Morris will facilitate the course, scheduled for Aug. 20-21 at U of I’s Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center (SOAC), 10881 N. Boyer Road, Sandpoint, with sessions running from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The cost of participation is $40 per person, which includes lunch on the first day and beverages on both days. Partial scholarships are available. The deadline for submitting applications is Aug. 13. The Northwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center, through its Animal Protein Supply Chain Theme Team, gave Extension $10,000 toward planning and hosting an educational program for ranchers.
“We had been hearing that farmers wanted to have a Ranching for Profit workshop in Idaho,” said Colette DePhelps, a U of I area Extension educator specializing in community food systems, who is co-lead of the center’s Idaho team. “These workshops are widely popular. They are very much led by people who have expertise in the field of ranch management, and they are very hands-on and applied.”
The workshop will cover ranching profitability, restructuring a ranch for profitability, evaluating success, financial principles, understanding the balance sheet, key financial ratios and employee structure. Ranchers Eileen Napier and Stan Hayes will also offer firsthand experiences with Ramstead Ranch in Ione, Washington.
Most Ranching for Profit workshops span a week and focus on cow-calf operations that sell into larger markets. Morris will redesign the Sandpoint workshop to target sales directly to consumers and end users within local and regional food systems, such as restaurants and retailers. The workshop will also cover sales of value-added products.
Organizers with Extension anticipate drawing ranchers from north Idaho, eastern Washington, northeast Oregon and western Montana. Area ranchers who have participated in past workshops offer rave reviews.
“Ranching for Profit was the best training I’ve ever had on any topic in my entire life,” said Mike Guebert, a Corbett, Oregon, rancher who participated in a previous workshop. “It has fundamentally changed the way I think about my business and my only regret is that I didn’t do it 15 years earlier.”
Participants may book lodging at the SOAC bunkhouse for $25 for the first night and $5 for additional nights. For information about lodging, contact Kate Wood, Extension program manager for community food systems in Sandpoint. Contact DePhelps with questions about partial scholarships.
