A
new year grants us the opportunity for a fresh start in nearly every aspect of life. From per- sonal goals like fi tness and diet, to business goals like growth and profi tability, January
is the time to start off right. This also includes your record-keeping system. Whether it is a shoebox full of receipts and a spiral
notebook, or a spreadsheet and smartphone app, it is important to start off on the right foot. Retired profes- sor and AgriLife Extension Economist Stan Bevers has tips and ideas to help you reach such goals. Bevers recently launched his own ranch manage-
ment consulting business, Ranch KPI, based on 13 key performance indicators (KPIs) he has identifi ed for ranches to measure their success. His tips and ideas to start the year off right are points every rancher should track and maintain. “The overall goal of a record-keeping system,” Bev-
ers says, “is to provide data that is going to help make decisions to fulfi ll the goals of the operation or of the owner.”
Two important records To start off right, there are 2 sets of records that
Bevers suggests every rancher should keep — fi nancial records and livestock inventory records. Both of these records should always reconcile and balance with one another. It sounds so simple, but Bevers, as a cattle rancher himself, suggests it is easier said than done. “Chances are if you are like my wife and me,” Bev-
ers says, “she sees the checks and deposits without me knowing. Then I never go back and reconcile to the livestock inventory. All of the sudden my inventories aren’t right.” It is a constant struggle to stay on top of maintain-
ing records, managing the herd and all of the other fi res that ranchers deal with daily. To start off right though, a commitment must be made to stay on top of these 2 sets of records for the entire year. “If you start off keeping them for the fi rst 6 months
of the year, but disregard them the last 6 months of the year, you shouldn’t have done the fi rst 6 months in the fi rst place,” Bevers says. “Keep that end of the year goal of data analysis in mind.”
Any form of record will do Begin by knowing where you
stand at the beginning of the year with both sets of records. For the livestock inventory side, starting
90 The Cattleman January 2017
Stan Bevers, Ranch KPI.
Jan. 1, gather an accurate inventory count of all live- stock. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate system. Paper and pen, or a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, will all work just fi ne. It just needs to work for the rancher. “I personally use an Excel spreadsheet that I’ve built
over time,” Bevers says. “It tracks the ins and outs, sales, transfers, deaths and all of that type of stuff.” The “Cadillac version” of an inventory record would
show mature cows, heifers, calves and bulls, which are then further broken into some descriptive categories. The breeding side of the inventory record should have mature cows sorted by raised and purchased, and re- placement heifers sorted by the year they were raised or purchased. This produces the categories of raised mature cows, purchased mature cows, and 2 separate year categories for purchased replacement heifers and raised replacement heifers. To track replacement heifers, a 2017 inventory re-
cord would show 2015 replacement heifers and 2016 replacement heifers, and at the end of 2017, the 2015 replacement heifers would roll into the “raised mature cows” number. It would track the purchased and raised heifers the same way, but separately. “I quit tracking them, at least from an inventory standpoint, once they become a mature female, which
There are 2 sets of records every rancher UJQWNF MGGR ± ¿ PCPEKCN TGEQTFU CPF NKXGUVQEM inventory records.
thecattlemanmagazine.com
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