Ask Steve Dave Farm And Cow And Ranch And Tractor And Truck Related Questions

[ben ji]

I'm on the board of our ranch. if we do a big family trip somewhere we do it for work and vote on who runs the ranch and do various other work meetings that FOR SURE qualify as business expenses. so far we've voted for my dad to continue as the head but at some point I'm going to do a coup and take over this crap. irl we'll eventually vote for my younger bro who stayed home after KSU and runs the operation with him....OR WILL WE!? stay tuned.

Oh man, a real life Farm Succession show where all the Dave's are plotting to take down the old man but he holds on to power until the very end then names some in law the new head of Dave Ranch. Mix in some Yellowstone violence and cow shots and we got ourselves a hit show.

[KST8FAN]

I'm on the board of our ranch. if we do a big family trip somewhere we do it for work and vote on who runs the ranch and do various other work meetings that FOR SURE qualify as business expenses. so far we've voted for my dad to continue as the head but at some point I'm going to do a coup and take over this crap. irl we'll eventually vote for my younger bro who stayed home after KSU and runs the operation with him....OR WILL WE!? stay tuned.

Oh man, a real life Farm Succession show where all the Dave's are plotting to take down the old man but he holds on to power until the very end then names some in law the new head of Dave Ranch. Mix in some Yellowstone violence and cow shots and we got ourselves a hit show.

https://www.agkansitions.org/

I attended one of these farm succession planning seminars a year ago.  Not really because we didn't have a plan, but more to reaffirm what were doing, here others stories, get other ideas.

You could make a good documentary out of some of the stories others shared.  It's still amazing to me how many family farms fail to plan for a transition.

The classic is one sibling agrees to stay home, help mom and dad farm, on the promise they will take over the operation.  Mom/dad pass away snd the townie siblings show up wanting their "fare share" of the operation where farm siblings "sweat equity" isn't documented or acknowledged.  Now farm sibling is faced with buying out the others or left with a fraction of the operation they helped grow and maintain.


Tom

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[Spracne]

It's @stevedave

[ben ji]

I'm on the board of our ranch. if we do a big family trip somewhere we do it for work and vote on who runs the ranch and do various other work meetings that FOR SURE qualify as business expenses. so far we've voted for my dad to continue as the head but at some point I'm going to do a coup and take over this crap. irl we'll eventually vote for my younger bro who stayed home after KSU and runs the operation with him....OR WILL WE!? stay tuned.

Oh man, a real life Farm Succession show where all the Dave's are plotting to take down the old man but he holds on to power until the very end then names some in law the new head of Dave Ranch. Mix in some Yellowstone violence and cow shots and we got ourselves a hit show.

https://www.agkansitions.org/

I attended one of these farm succession planning seminars a year ago.  Not really because we didn't have a plan, but more to reaffirm what were doing, here others stories, get other ideas.

You could make a good documentary out of some of the stories others shared.  It's still amazing to me how many family farms fail to plan for a transition.

The classic is one sibling agrees to stay home, help mom and dad farm, on the promise they will take over the operation.  Mom/dad pass away snd the townie siblings show up wanting their "fare share" of the operation where farm siblings "sweat equity" isn't documented or acknowledged.  Now farm sibling is faced with buying out the others or left with a fraction of the operation they helped grow and maintain.


Tom

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This is the basic story of the cat ranch except my uncle married well and had tons of other land so he wasn't dependent on the cat ranch.

TLDR Uncle is the only one who went into farming/ranching since he was the oldest son. When my GPA passed he kind of leased/ran it from my grandma for 10 years but did various minor capital improvements to the cat ranch since it was the closest of "his" land to the city (Windbreaks/corrals/water tanks etc).

When my GMA passed 10 years later the will basically said "Divide it equally between the 3 siblings"....Well that's kind of hard when its 1,000ish acres of various dry land/irrigated/pasture land/etc along with a house in the city. Originally my dad was only going to get a quarter section of non irrigated cropland a couple of miles away from the cat ranch but he haggled his way into getting the part with the house.

It was a whole ordeal and my dad and my uncle don't speak anymore because of it....so yeah, if you own farmland set an actual succession plan of who gets what when you die.

[steve dave]

I'm on the board of our ranch. if we do a big family trip somewhere we do it for work and vote on who runs the ranch and do various other work meetings that FOR SURE qualify as business expenses. so far we've voted for my dad to continue as the head but at some point I'm going to do a coup and take over this crap. irl we'll eventually vote for my younger bro who stayed home after KSU and runs the operation with him....OR WILL WE!? stay tuned.

Oh man, a real life Farm Succession show where all the Dave's are plotting to take down the old man but he holds on to power until the very end then names some in law the new head of Dave Ranch. Mix in some Yellowstone violence and cow shots and we got ourselves a hit show.

https://www.agkansitions.org/

I attended one of these farm succession planning seminars a year ago.  Not really because we didn't have a plan, but more to reaffirm what were doing, here others stories, get other ideas.

You could make a good documentary out of some of the stories others shared.  It's still amazing to me how many family farms fail to plan for a transition.

The classic is one sibling agrees to stay home, help mom and dad farm, on the promise they will take over the operation.  Mom/dad pass away snd the townie siblings show up wanting their "fare share" of the operation where farm siblings "sweat equity" isn't documented or acknowledged.  Now farm sibling is faced with buying out the others or left with a fraction of the operation they helped grow and maintain.


Tom

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yeah, that's basically what we find ourselves with irl. one of four brothers graduated ksu and went back to do it. but, the good news is, nobody wants or needs anything in my family. we have a hilariously weird good relationship. if my bro wants to just take it all on and have it himself, godspeed brother. but if he does't think that's fair and wants me to have a few thousand acres or whatever. also fine. I'll tell you what I'm not ever doing, cow/farm work in SW KS. did my time.

[steve dave]

actually I'd probably have to vote for my bro to even do that officially. guess he's going to have to wait and see what I decide with my vote.

[steve dave]

we pay our cowboys standard wages but also give them a house (we have some on our ground and property), all utilities, a truck, and fuel. it's a very tough thing to leave obviously once you get settled. now you've got a house, bills, etc to pay if you do something else. When you get a loyal cowboy you give them a LOT of leeway to run the shop. We have a cowboy now that I would trust with my life. Has been working for us for 20+ years. He's the hardest working person I've ever known. When my dad was dying of Covid he probably saved his life by calling me and letting my dad feel comfortable enough to leave the ranch to get on an air ambulance to Wichita. Not like I talk to this guy ever unless I'm there. But he saved my dad's life by knowing he needed to call me to make me take action. Owe him more than he'll ever know.

[steve dave]

and good luck telling a cowboys thank you or anything like that. they handle it poorly. just act like you aren't talking to them. but he knows. really weird people.

[nicname]

The purity of the Dave family farm patriarchy is a thing of beauty.

[Sandstone Outcropping]

we pay our cowboys standard wages but also give them a house (we have some on our ground and property), all utilities, a truck, and fuel. it's a very tough thing to leave obviously once you get settled. now you've got a house, bills, etc to pay if you do something else. When you get a loyal cowboy you give them a LOT of leeway to run the shop. We have a cowboy now that I would trust with my life. Has been working for us for 20+ years. He's the hardest working person I've ever known. When my dad was dying of Covid he probably saved his life by calling me and letting my dad feel comfortable enough to leave the ranch to get on an air ambulance to Wichita. Not like I talk to this guy ever unless I'm there. But he saved my dad's life by knowing he needed to call me to make me take action. Owe him more than he'll ever know.

Yes. Salute to the cowboys and "hired men" out there. Can be tough to keep them around the farm and ranch. Especially guys with elite mechanic skills who can get a job in town with benefits, etc.
When my uncle was in the last stages of dying from cancer and couldn't be at home anymore the hired man picked him up and carried him out of the house to go to the local hospital for end of life care.

[WillieWatanabe]

I'm on the board of our ranch. if we do a big family trip somewhere we do it for work and vote on who runs the ranch and do various other work meetings that FOR SURE qualify as business expenses. so far we've voted for my dad to continue as the head but at some point I'm going to do a coup and take over this crap. irl we'll eventually vote for my younger bro who stayed home after KSU and runs the operation with him....OR WILL WE!? stay tuned.

Oh man, a real life Farm Succession show where all the Dave's are plotting to take down the old man but he holds on to power until the very end then names some in law the new head of Dave Ranch. Mix in some Yellowstone violence and cow shots and we got ourselves a hit show.

https://www.agkansitions.org/

I attended one of these farm succession planning seminars a year ago.  Not really because we didn't have a plan, but more to reaffirm what were doing, here others stories, get other ideas.

You could make a good documentary out of some of the stories others shared.  It's still amazing to me how many family farms fail to plan for a transition.

The classic is one sibling agrees to stay home, help mom and dad farm, on the promise they will take over the operation.  Mom/dad pass away snd the townie siblings show up wanting their "fare share" of the operation where farm siblings "sweat equity" isn't documented or acknowledged.  Now farm sibling is faced with buying out the others or left with a fraction of the operation they helped grow and maintain.


Tom

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

This is the basic story of the cat ranch except my uncle married well and had tons of other land so he wasn't dependent on the cat ranch.

TLDR Uncle is the only one who went into farming/ranching since he was the oldest son. When my GPA passed he kind of leased/ran it from my grandma for 10 years but did various minor capital improvements to the cat ranch since it was the closest of "his" land to the city (Windbreaks/corrals/water tanks etc).

When my GMA passed 10 years later the will basically said "Divide it equally between the 3 siblings"....Well that's kind of hard when its 1,000ish acres of various dry land/irrigated/pasture land/etc along with a house in the city. Originally my dad was only going to get a quarter section of non irrigated cropland a couple of miles away from the cat ranch but he haggled his way into getting the part with the house.

It was a whole ordeal and my dad and my uncle don't speak anymore because of it....so yeah, if you own farmland set an actual succession plan of who gets what when you die.

this is so common. My two uncles had a disagreement over land after grandpa retired and they didn't talk for years. They now at least acknowledge each other at reunions but there is still awkward tension.

Somehow my dad and uncle got along fine farming and when my dad retired there were no major issues, at least that i'm aware of. I always remember my mom bitching about my uncle overstepping his fair share on stuff. But like good lutherans, we just bitch behind their backs and never confront them.

[ben ji]

we pay our cowboys standard wages but also give them a house (we have some on our ground and property), all utilities, a truck, and fuel. it's a very tough thing to leave obviously once you get settled. now you've got a house, bills, etc to pay if you do something else. When you get a loyal cowboy you give them a LOT of leeway to run the shop. We have a cowboy now that I would trust with my life. Has been working for us for 20+ years. He's the hardest working person I've ever known. When my dad was dying of Covid he probably saved his life by calling me and letting my dad feel comfortable enough to leave the ranch to get on an air ambulance to Wichita. Not like I talk to this guy ever unless I'm there. But he saved my dad's life by knowing he needed to call me to make me take action. Owe him more than he'll ever know.

How does that work when they retire? Do they have to up and move into town and buy a house?

[nicname]

we pay our cowboys standard wages but also give them a house (we have some on our ground and property), all utilities, a truck, and fuel. it's a very tough thing to leave obviously once you get settled. now you've got a house, bills, etc to pay if you do something else. When you get a loyal cowboy you give them a LOT of leeway to run the shop. We have a cowboy now that I would trust with my life. Has been working for us for 20+ years. He's the hardest working person I've ever known. When my dad was dying of Covid he probably saved his life by calling me and letting my dad feel comfortable enough to leave the ranch to get on an air ambulance to Wichita. Not like I talk to this guy ever unless I'm there. But he saved my dad's life by knowing he needed to call me to make me take action. Owe him more than he'll ever know.

How does that work when they retire? Do they have to up and move into town and buy a house?

Cowboys don’t retire. They ride off into the sunset.

[steve dave]

we pay our cowboys standard wages but also give them a house (we have some on our ground and property), all utilities, a truck, and fuel. it's a very tough thing to leave obviously once you get settled. now you've got a house, bills, etc to pay if you do something else. When you get a loyal cowboy you give them a LOT of leeway to run the shop. We have a cowboy now that I would trust with my life. Has been working for us for 20+ years. He's the hardest working person I've ever known. When my dad was dying of Covid he probably saved his life by calling me and letting my dad feel comfortable enough to leave the ranch to get on an air ambulance to Wichita. Not like I talk to this guy ever unless I'm there. But he saved my dad's life by knowing he needed to call me to make me take action. Owe him more than he'll ever know.

How does that work when they retire? Do they have to up and move into town and buy a house?

Well, if one ever retires I’ll tell you


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[wetwillie]

Farm planning is fascinating to me. The one I've seen is basically the guy that took it over has to pay out a percentage to his aunts and uncles until they all pass.

[ben ji]

Farm planning is fascinating to me. The one I've seen is basically the guy that took it over has to pay out a percentage to his aunts and uncles until they all pass.

The real question is percentage of what? Gross income? Profit?

Because it's pretty easy to juke the stats with profitability on a farm or any business really but definitely a farm.

[steve dave]

Farming/Ranching is hard AF. There is a reason they can’t find people to do it.


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[steve dave]

I'm in a very blessed place on this stuff with both my family dynamic with my bros and also the fact that my mom is a CPA and on it I'm sure. but I have witnessed so many massive family meltdowns on this stuff. it fuckin' sucks because there isn't a "right" answer ever.

[steve dave]

I know my grandfather (3rd gen) didn't talk to his brother. his brother was cool as crap as far as I could tell but growing up I met him like 5 times. could very well be ranch stuff but I'm glad they didn't involve me in it and just let me hang out with the old guy giving me beers at funerals when I got to see him.

[KST8FAN]

https://www.farmprogress.com/commentary/stop-the-kids-from-selling-your-farm


Tom

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[KST8FAN]

https://www.ksnt.com/news/local-news/major-hay-bale-wrap-producer-in-kansas-shuts-down/


Tom

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[Sandstone Outcropping]

2024 LaRosh Wheat Harvest video just dropped. Skip ahead to 4:40 if you want to see spine-tingling full-moon combine footage.

https://youtu.be/W42uNbBrDZY?si=uyFk_787dY-F0HaN

[steve dave]

So lil sd is spending some days on the sd ranch. Guess what he is doing? Preg-checking cows with the local vet in the ranch corrals. If you want to know what that entails the pics tell the story.





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[Katpappy]

The one thing I remember most is my mom ensuring we washed our hands before supper.  That included rinsing off with the water hose outside before entering the house.

[KST8FAN]

In his championship hoodie.  That's incredible.


Tom

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