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Like Causes = Like Results

Mr Cattlemaster
Jun 6, 2023
6 min read

Updated: May 23

This testimonial is from a phone conversation. I took some notes for accuracy. I realize it is not the same if I write it up. I asked her if she would type something up for me, and she declined. She stated that she wants to suppress the memories of what her family went through.

Hi Doug! This is (name with held) my husband and I attended one of your marketing schools in Beatrice. I saw your wife posted that it was your birthday yesterday, and well, I sort of have a present for you. You will love to hear this.

First I need to give you some back ground details for you to fully appreciate our story. My husband grew up on this ranch and it has been his childhood dream to take over and raise cattle. Just like yours. He has never had the opportunity to come back here because the ranch didn’t make enough money to support another family. So he did what he was supposed to do, got a degree and got a job.

After the passing of his father we thought long and hard about up rooting our family and moving here. We had to sell part of the existing ranch to settle the estate. What remained was still large enough to run a few hundred head. We came to the conclusion that, that was good enough that we could move here and I would get a job and he would ranch.

The ranch was under lease to a neighbor, and that lease had a couple years left on it. The people that live here are obviously people my husband grew up around. We decided to honor the rest of the lease. My husband found a decent job off the ranch and we saved up the lease income.

When the lease expired we then bought our own cows with the lease income and the sale of our previous home. We bought what were some really good cows, or so I was told. I do not know much about cows so I took everyone’s word for it. They were pretty.

We also used some borrowed money to buy some cows and to cover our expenses.

It didn’t take long and we realized we were in over our heads. As the expenses kept piling on we began to worry how we were going to sell our calves for more than it was costing us to raise them. Forget about even trying to get our investment dollars back out of the cows. We knew we were headed for trouble.

We started asking around for help. We got all kinds of what you called “idioms” from people that were of no use. We searched the internet on how to make money marketing cattle. For the record you were not teaching schools at the time. We found a sell/buy school and did some research into it. It sounded like a wonderful idea, so we both attended together.

The instructor was hard to follow and we did not connect with him on any level. What we did get out of it seemed like a good strategy so we went home and tried it. Capturing appreciation value and deflecting depreciation was just so logical. We had to get rid of some of the more mature cows we had bought, and kept all our heifer calves. After we got through that rough spot we were going to do the five years old and out program, focusing on capital gains.

Doug, I know I don’t have to tell you how that went. The lack of cash flow due to chasing capital gains put us further behind the eight ball than we already were. We had to start financing everything. Fuel, feed, supplies.

When we started selling our females they were not market toppers by any means and the money supply came up short. That is when late fees and interest charges started getting tacked on to our accounts.

We were drowning. My husband had to go back to his old job. That is when he got kicked again. They hired him back but since he quit them before he got the shifts, and tasks there no one else wanted. Working that job and trying to keep up the ranch he got very little sleep and missed out on time with our children.

The business owners we were purchasing inputs from were his school mates, or their parents. We could tell they lost respect for us and didn’t care to see the people who can’t pay their bills walk in the door. It was humiliating for my husband.

The stress of all this makes people grumpy. It affected his relationship with the kids. One day our oldest made the comment that she wished we never moved here. Another comment like that was never spoken again after my husband blew up. The kids hated the cows and this ranch. They wanted to move back to their first home. I can’t explain the pain in a mother’s heart this caused me.

We then decided to get rid of the cows all together and go to stockers. What we got from the sell/buy course we attended was that would cash flow better due to more turnover. We did the trades exactly like he showed us. I swear we did. I triple checked. All the stocker trading accomplished was helping us go broke faster.

That is when I called you. [At this point I had to interrupt her. I hear this very thing all the time, one sell/buy school was so horrible and the results they got from it were horrible why give my school a try? Why are you even still interested in sell/buy after getting into a mess like this? She gave me her reasons.]

After visiting with you on the phone we decided to promptly enroll. I have to be honest, we didn’t care for the first half of day one. We didn’t feel we needed a psychology lesson or to learn about attitude and mindset. Later, after we got home and were about to implement what you taught us is when it hit us how important it is. We are glad we paid attention because it was just what we needed for the state we were in.

We didn’t go eat with the group that evening because we didn’t have any money. We borrowed money from my family to cover tuition, gas, and hotel room fees. So we grabbed some fruit from the breakfast buffet at the hotel that morning and some of the water and soft drinks you provide during the school.

Day two when you got into the trades and showed us the cash flow really made an impact on us. We realized what we needed to do differently. You explained everything so clearly and simply.

When you got through with the cow trades I had to leave the room. I went out to the car and cried. If we knew what you taught us from the very beginning we would not have had to go through the things we did. If we would’ve learned those things at the other school we would not have had to go through what we did.

Doug, we stayed with the stockers and traded the way you explained to do it. I am happy to tell you it has been working well for us ever since. That being said, my husband is still at the miserable job, for security reasons.

And this is why I am calling you. As we traded in the “certain way” as you describe it, we were cash flowing very well. We took that money and began a debt snowball plan to pay back all the people we owed money to. We just executed another trade and decided not to replace the last dozen head to pay our mechanic.

Doug, we don’t owe anyone any money, except the bank. We don’t have any money right now, but we got out of the hole we were in. People in this community greet us warmly again and we have earned their respect back. We owe them so much for their patience and their help getting through all this. We are so grateful for what you taught us. We will save up some cash soon enough, and we will get the dozen head we liquidated eventually.

We get along so much better as a family. Our kids are starting to like it here and they are starting to like the cattle as well.

I know you share testimonials every Tuesday it appears. Share this if you think I will inspire others. I know you will leave my name out but can you leave off our State address too.

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