No Risk Ranching: Custom Grazing on Leased Land

by Greg Judy

Greg Judy was forced to liquidate his cow herd to pay debt in 1996. By the end of the following year he was dead broke and figured the family farm was history. A quote from Allan Nation, editor of The Stockman Grass Farmer magazine changed his whole view of ranching. Nation said, “Your sole purpose should be not to own the land, but to make a living from the land.” Inspired by that approach, Judy started looking for idle, non-developed pastureland. By focusing on leasing rather than owning land, his grazing operation grew from 40 stockers to 1100 head. By custom grazing on leased land he was able to pay his entire farm and home loan within three years. Today he has four farms and leases 12. No Risk Ranching, Custom Grazing on Leased Land describes how he found and managed his first and subsequent leases. He offers a detailed guide for other graziers to follow on how to find idle land to lease; calculate the cost of a lease; draft and write a land lease contract (with examples included); develop good water and portable fencing on leased land; promote wildlife and improve timber stands; keep accurate records and more. No Risk Ranching was written to help other graziers from making the same mistakes Judy made. He writes, “I am convinced that in the USA our pastures are one of our most underutilized natural resources. I am not against land ownership. I just feel like it is an awful hardship on a new blooming grazing business.”

Genres: Agriculture, Animals

240 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2002

Reviews

[Brad Belschner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book shows you how to ranch without owning either cattle or land. The answer is custom grazing contracts: basically, folks pay you to graze their cattle, and you rent other people's land to do it. Think of it like running an organic feed lot, but instead of expensive grain you're feeding the cows cheap grass. When you look around at how cheap it is to rent pasture-land (the national average is $11/acre), then you can see why it's so profitable.

[Tabitha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Proof that life as a farmer doesn’t have to be a giant debt show! This book contains loads of practical information. He isn’t a polished writer, but his enthusiasm and plain speaking make this an enjoyable read. I began it for the information, to better understand concepts my husband had been discussing. I was surprised to find that it wasn’t dry reading at all. I ended up scrawling notes in my Bullet Journal for future reference.

Note: he has changed approaches to a few things since this book was written. Look Greg Judy up on YouTube for info along that line.

[Tony Paulson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author offers some great ideas that I hope to implement some day. I've pencilled out his business plan using real world data in several parts of the country and his model seems sound for making money on cattle.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written and interesting however it did not match the more diverse type of farming I do. I learned a lot from the book.

[Mwalkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent! Very inspirational and nuts and bolts specific on how to incorporate rotational grazing.