Ranching Returns Podcast
Episodes
274: Jarod Kiggans -Creative Financing as a First Gen Rancher
20 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
After 270+ episodes there are not to many episodes where I hear an idea that I have not heard before. But in this episode Jarod shares how he came up ...
273: Michael Mendel - Finding Success in a Diverse, Multi Family Farm
13 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Michael shares how his family emphasized an early transition of farm ownership to the next generation as well as discuss the many different enterprise...
272: Kit Pharo - Kit Addresses Low Input Critics
06 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Kit responds to comments and questions on podcast clips. The following are just a few of the topics we discuss:- Maternal vs. Terminal Selection- Appl...
271: Dylan Enger - Growing a Family Ranch
30 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Dylan shares how he and his brother came home to ranch with their uncle. They discuss adding enterprises, and maintaining full time off ranch jobs whi...
270: Tristen Miller - Building Businesses and a Farm
23 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Tristen realized quickly he didn't want to work for anybody else and he along with his wife have been building their own cattle operation while al...
269: PJ Budler - What Makes a Profitable Cow
16 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
PJ is a cattle expert who has judged over 100 different cattle breeds in 51 countries! He has seen what well adapted, functionally efficient, fertile ...
268: Dallas Dodson - Building a Profitable Ranch
09 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
An investor wanted to buy a ranch and asked Dallas to manage it. His two comments were 1) I don't lose money at anything and 2) If we can't ha...
267: Tristan Swartz - Doing it Wrong Dairy
02 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
You can find Tristan on Facebook either under Tristan Swarts or Doing it Wrong Dairy with combined over 400,000 followers! He's not afraid to do t...
266: Joe Pokay and Hugh Aljoe - Cutting Inputs on 13,500 Acres
23 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Noble Research Institute does more than put together awesome classes on ranch finance, soil health, and grazing management. They actually own and mana...
265: Harry Cope - Missouri Grazing Farm
16 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Harry discusses his farmily farms history, getting through the 80's farm crisis and his decision to shift from row crops to a grazing based operat...
264: Dallas Simmonds - From 40,000 Acres to 0
09 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Dallas built a large successful grain farm in Canada and grew it to over 40,000 acres. He then quit hoping that more time and freedom would help him f...
263: Dallas Mount - Succession, Debt, People, Investing
02 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
I pulled questions and comments from popular social media clips with tens of thousands of views and brought on Dallas Mount, owner of Executive Link a...
262: Jesse Nelson - Regenerative Crop and Livestock in Idaho
26 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Jesse Nelson shares his story of buying his grandfathers farm in Idaho and discusses the challenges and successes that have come with that journey. Th...
261: Dr. Tom Roskos - Farmer and Veterinarian Discusses Animal Health
19 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Tom is a vet, farmer and preventative health expert for cattle. He shares his thoughts on the difference between expenses and investments when it ...
260: Matthew Grimes - Scaling Low Input Sheep Production
12 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Matthew wanted a scalable enterprise that was consistently profitable. After considering his skill set, interests and opportunities he dove into easy ...
259: Jamie Hamilton - First Generation Full Time Farmer
05 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Jamie is one of those young farmers proving you still can make a full time living and build wealth as a first generation farmer! He shares his story o...
258: Gabe Brown - Cattle Production Paradigm Shift
29 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Everybody has heard Gabe Browns row crop challenges that led him to shift to regenerative agriculture minimizing inputs and diversifying crop rotation...
257: Ted Miller - 600 Cow Grazing Dairy in Louisiana
22 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ted is a first generation farmer who started and built a large scale grazing based dairy that allows him to compete in an industry typically dominated...
256: Marlene Moore - Fighting to Keep the Ranch
15 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Marlene Moore shares her incredible story of taking over her Grandfathers ranch with little experience and fighting to keep it alive and growing it in...
255: Karson Rippstein - Family, Government Leases, Salt and Mineral
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Karson ranches with his dad and brother in Utah and we discuss the challenges he deals with working in the mountains on permits as well as his recomme...
254: Lawson Harper - Ranching in Australia
01 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lawson shares his families story of ranching in the land down under! His parents ranch expansion and exit of the industry and his entrance into the in...
253: Caitlin Word - Crossroads of Profitability and Regenerative Management
24 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Caitlin and I discuss ways to improve profitability on the ranch. We discuss impacting it through improving gross margin, and reducing overhead. We di...
252: Luke Perman - End of Year Preparations
17 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Luke is owner and operator of Rock Hills Ranch in South Dakota. In this conversation we discuss what he does in the 4th quarter to prepare for the end...
251: Brian Munger, Wally Olson, John Haskell - What is Sell/Buy Marketing
10 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this podcast episode, ranching experts Wally Olson, John Haskell, and Brian Munger to discuss the intricacies of sell-by marketing in the cattle in...
250: Nick Bailey - Scaling Direct to Consumer
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nick Bailey of Grand View Farming shares his story of starting and growing their direct to consumer meat marketing business. He shares the marketing s...
249: Ray Marxer - Insights of a Large Ranch Manager
27 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ray Marxer managed a large scale ranch running thousands of cows for multiple decades and in this episode we discuss many of his tips for running your...
248: Derek Schwanebeck - Seasonal Grazing For Improved Lifestyle and Profit
20 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Derek and his wife took over her families ranch and weren't afraid to make changes to improve their ranches profitability and lifestyle. They swit...
247: Brian, Tyson and Rob - Bull Development and Evaluation
13 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rob Pierce, Tyson Pharo and Brian Munger join me to discuss what happens when bulls are dropped off at a bull development site in January until the fa...
246: Paul, Gavin and Jason - Profitable Cow Production
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Landrigan, Gavin Kemp, and Jason Orton join me to discuss how they apply pressure on their cow herds to select the most fertile and low input cow...
245: Tony Munsterteiger - Grazing Farm in Minnesota
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tony is a friend and fellow Minnesotan who is doing an excellent job of developing a cowherd and grazing system to efficiently grass finish beef in ce...
244: John Locke - Ranching Success
22 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, John Locke shares his journey in ranching, detailing his family's legacy and the challenges faced after a significant succes...
243: Ray Archuleta - Soil Health and His Missouri Farm
15 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ray Archuleta A.K.A. the soil guy has been traveling the country for decades teaching people about soil health! In this episode we discuss soil health...
242: Noah Eubanks - Adapted Cows are a Low Input Factory
08 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I love Noah's perspective on buying and breeding cows that may not be as desirable for others but thrive on his ranch and are a low investment but...
241: Henry Burns - Startup Ranch and Virtual Fence
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, Jared Luhman and Henry Burns discuss the intricacies of ranching, focusing on the use of virtual collars for cattle management. ...
240: Matt Feldhaus - Ranching Sodak
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Matt is a first generation rancher in South Dakota. He shares the details of building his ranch, buying and leasing land, growing the cowherd! We also...
239: John Haskell - Trends of Successful Ranchers
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
John Haskell has an amazing perspective of one who is active in the livestock and ranching world but also works with dozens of other farmers and ranch...
238: Treg Ulmer - Row Crops to Grazing
11 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, Treg shares his journey of transitioning from a family legacy in farming to establishing his own sustainable grazing operation. ...
237: Tim Downing - Building a Multi-Generational Ranch
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tim shares in detail his journey of land acquisitions and trades that led him to the ranch he is on today. He shared the stories and sacrifices he has...
236: Giovana Benitez - Keeping the Ranch, and Faith!
28 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Wow, this conversation to me was incredibly powerful and inspiring! Giovana and her father faced difficulty that most never would have to losing famil...
235: Seth Pratt - Generational Ranching in Idaho
21 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Seth shares his family's story of building the family business over generations as well as the investments they have made into adding value to the...
234: Rusty Lee - Grazing Grain Milo
14 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rusty is a University Extension specialist for University of Missouri and also a farmer and rancher with extensive experience grazing grain milo. He s...
233: Chris and Lyndsey - Solar Grazing
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Jared Luhman speaks with Lyndsey and Chris from Shady Creek Lamb Co., who share their innovative approach to sheep farming through sol...
232: Keith Olsen - Low Input Crop and Cattle Farming
30 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Keith is passionate about low input regenerative agriculture and is exploring both of those avenues on his own operation in SE Minnesota. We discuss h...
231: Sam Fryer - Ranching, Podcasting and Working!
23 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sam has an awesome story, he shares how he decided to separate himself from the family farm and go out on his own in order to preserve family relation...
230: Jacob Gilley - Enterprise Analysis, Real Estate, and More!
16 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lots of good stuff in this conversation with Jacob. We discuss his path to farming, his decision to leave the off farm job, the many enterprises he ha...
229: Ben Minden - Training Cowboys and Buying a Business
09 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ben is founder and president of Bear Hug Cattle Company which is a non-profit that trains retiring military members on the basics required to work in ...
228: Drew Bruner - Going All in on Sheep
02 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew talks about why in this particular market he chose not to invest in stockers and switch entirely to sheep. He discusses his permanent flock as we...
227: Matthew Menke - Risk vs. Reward, Leverage and Knowing Your Business
26 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Matthew shares his incredible story of turning down a dream opportunity to take over a family business because he couldn't do so profitably. He sh...
226: Randal Breen - From Living in a Shed to Full Time Farmer
19 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Randal shares his incredible story of building a farm. He now operates on over 650 acres and direct markets meat and eggs to local individuals and who...
225: Alex McKiernan - Car Wrecks Can't Stop This Family!
12 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Alex and his wife have built a diverse farm and ranch business that started with direct to consumer vegetable production through a CSA and has grown t...
224: Caleb Smith - Switching from Dairy to Sheep
05 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Caleb has a unique story to getting into agriculture, he had the opportunity to take on a 40 year land lease from a non-profit and built a dairy farm ...
223: Hayden Heigele - Changing Genetics, Calving Window, and More
28 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hayden felt some resistance when wanting to experiment with new farming and ranching practices on his family farm. Rather than give up, he has been gr...
222: Doug Badcock - Building an Adapted Cow on a Zambian Ranch
21 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Doug is building a ranch in Zambia and trying to develop a cow herd adapted to his harsh climate! He shares all the traditional paradigms he's pushing...
221: Ryan Cone - Building a Business in Order to Buy a Ranch
14 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I absolutely love Ryan's story of finding a creative way to building a large and successful ranch from nothing! He shares his story of buying and ...
220: Neil Peterson - Integrating Cows on Cropland in Iowa
07 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After doing missions work overseas Neil moved back to the family farm in Iowa. He is working to build a diversified and profitable farm that integrate...
219: Craig Ference - Thousands of Cows Grazing Corn!
31 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I really enjoyed discussing Craig's operation and perspectives on things from diversification vs. specialization on a large farm and ranch, to lan...
218: George Walker - From Direct Marketing to Sell/Buy Marketing
24 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
George shares his story of starting his own farm when there wasn't room on the family farm. He also discusses why he moved from a direct marketing...
217: Doug Marburger - Developing Bulls in Texas
17 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Doug is the developer of all the bulls being sold at the PCC sale in Texas coming up on April 1. He shares his story of not being raised on a ranch an...
216: Laura Burandt - Stocker Cows
10 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Laura has been a popular past guest back on episodes 122 and 126. Today she comes on again to discuss their stocker cow enterprise. She discusses what...
215: Casey Toews - Adapting Enterprises as Market Demands
03 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Casey and his family at Fishburn Ranch took what was considered very poor land and have turned it around through management. The number of creative wa...
214: Steve Schweitzer - Sharing his Ranching Journey
24 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I have known Steve for years but this is the first time hearing his story of shifting his ranching focus from a high production, high input ranching t...
213: Dean Hunt - Ranching in South Dakota
17 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dean Hunt shares his story of growing the family ranch while working an off farm job. He had an opportunity to expand at a time that he wasn't sur...
212: Knute and Amanda Severson - Grass Finishing and Successful Marketing
10 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Knute and Amanda are fun! They met working for the Seattle Seahawks and through a long journey ended up back at Knutes family farm in Iowa. It's t...
211: Kit Pharo - Converting to Low Input Ranching
03 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I had a great listener question asking about how to convert from a high input cow/calf herd and operation to a low input operation. Kit and I discuss ...
210: Mitch Dahl - Very Successful First Generation Rancher!
27 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mitch Dahl is another one of those guys my age making me feel behind the game and I love it! He had the opportunity to take over an existing ranch fro...
209: Doug Voss - Expanding the Land Base Through Good Management
20 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since having Doug on last time back on episode 33, he has expanded his land base significantly. We talk about how he has done this on both public and ...
208: Garth Gatson - Creating Value in Cattle
13 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Garth is intentional with his cattle business, focusing on enterprises where he can add value. Because of this he's found great success and is able to...
207: Sean and Kat Weinert - Quitting the Off Ranch Job
06 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We catch back up with Sean and Kat Weinert, previously on episodes 5 and 44 to discuss life after Sean left the off ranch job. We talk about the chall...
206: Duane Thompson - 1200 Cows Profitably in Canada
30 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Duane and his family run a ranch in Canada. They have figured out how to be successful in a northern environment facing challenges like snow, ice, col...
205: Cody Kologi - Switching Enterprises to Find Success
23 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Merry Christmas! I pray God blesses your holiday season. Cody shares his awesome story of taking over his in laws ranch in North Dakota and how he we...
204: John Maddux - Cattle Risk Management
16 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In Part 2 with John Maddux we discuss some of the strategies he uses for managing risk in his cow/calf and stocker business. Check out ...
203: John Maddux - Wall Street to Full Time Rancher
09 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
John Maddux shares his families story of aggressively purchases land and expanding their ranching operation over the generations. We dive into his ver...
202: Brady Wulf - Wide Row Corn, Cover Crops, Cows and Airbnb's
02 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The title doesn't even cover it all! We talk about a bunch in this episode on Brady Wulfs ranch near Starbuck, MN. We cover the airbnb he has on the r...
201: Brandon Mace - First Gen Rancher Started Leasing Cows
25 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I have talked to many first generation ranchers but I'm not sure I've talked with anybody who has started leasing cows. Brandon shares his start and h...
200: Greg Brown - From 0 to 450 Cows
18 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
To celebrate 200 Episodes I will be giving away 4 new Ranching Returns hats, listen to the podcast intro to hear how to enter to win one. But this co...
199: Logan Pribbeno - Cashing out of the Cows
11 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Logan shares his strategy to take advantage of what he believes is a predictable cattle cycle and capture value in his appreciated cow herd. My bigges...
198: Kyle Marshall - Finding Success in Ranching
04 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kyle shares his ranching story and I love his willingness to recognize the need to change and actually make a change. So many find it easier to go bro...
197: Kit Pharo - Unexpected DNA Results
28 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kit and the PCC team has been sending in some DNA on bulls recently and has had some exciting results on both the A2/A2 test and the Tenet Beef test. ...
196: Jared Luhman - Ranching Returns Podcast
23 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the Ranching Returns Podcast, formerly known as the Herd Quitter Podcast! I've been asked a bunch why the change? Are we leaving Pharo Catt...
195: Eric Bailey - Heifer Development
21 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Eric was last on episode 178 talking about doubling your stocking rate with stocker cattle for half the time. Today we discuss heifer development prog...
194: Jarrod and Becca Creasy - Learning through Challenges and Finding Success
14 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jarrod and Becca share their incredibly inspiring story of loss and financial struggles to what is now a large, diverse, successful and growing busine...
193: John Haskell and Wally Olson - Building Wealth with Livestock
07 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is part 2 of my conversation where John and Wally share how you can build wealth with livestock! As always, check us out at Herd Quitter Podcast...
192: John Haskell and Wally Olson - Managing in a Downward Market
30 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
John and Wally join me today in part 1 of a two part conversation in which we focus today on how to manage your livestock inventory in a downward tren...
191: Austin Troyer - Scaling a First Generation Ranch
23 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Austin and his wife are exactly the type of story that inspire me! What they have done to expand and scale their enterprise is fascinating. They manag...
190: David Breune - Swath Grazing Sorghum Sudan Grass
16 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For those who deal with snow and ice in the winter, this episode is for you! David and his team at Iowa State are researching swatch grazing of sorghu...
189: John Gutzman - Cow/Calf in Wisconsin
09 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
John is running a cow/calf and crop operation in Wisconsin. I really enjoyed this conversation where we discuss the best ways we have found to make co...
188: Greg Christiansen and Travis Hampton Part 2
02 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We carry on with our conversation from last week but focus on their operations. We discuss their soil health practices on crop land, livestock integra...
187: Greg Christiansen and Travis Hampton Part 1
26 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we talk to Greg Christiansen and Travis Hampton and discuss how Greg has begun the process of transitioning the operating business of ...
186: Levi Kokes - Regenerative Ranching, Carbon Contracts and Virtual Fencing
19 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Levi is new to his Regenerative Ranching Journey, having just taken over the family ranch from his dad and other family members. He shares his experie...
185: Allan Crockett - Profitable Ranch Business
12 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Allan shares his thoughts managing ranch businesses and finding a balance between finances, time, relationships and purpose. He also shares how to uti...
184: Kit Pharo - How to Evaluate Bulls
05 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kit walks through the process the Pharo Cattle Company team uses to evaluate over 1000 bulls every year. He explains the different traits they evaluat...
183: Steve Kenyon - What You Need to Know to Custom Graze on Leased Land
29 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Kenyon shares what he does about fence, water and corral infrastructure to manage his several thousand acre custom grazing enterprise in Canada....
182: Jeremia Markway - Complimentary Grazing Enterprises
22 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I really liked how Jeremia has matched his enterprise mix to his unique ranch context. Custom cow/calf that allows him to vary his stocking rate to ta...
181: John Wagner - Taking Over a Non Family Ranch
15 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the last episode Pete Ferrell shares his experience buying back the family ranch and his perspective on passing on the grazing business to somebody...
180: Pete Ferrell - Continuing a Ranch Legacy to Non-Family
08 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Pete Ferrell shares his story of building his ranch and buying much of his original family ranch back from other family members after it was split up ...
179: Jared Faubus - Building His Own Ranch
01 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I often wonder if the best route into agriculture might be to get a job with high income that can then be used to reinvest into land and livestock. Ja...
178: Eric Bailey - Doubling Down on Stockers
24 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Eric Bailey shares his experience and research comparing a full season long stocker operation and a doubled stocking rate for half the season. You may...
177: Duane Thompson - Crop/Livestock Integration at Scale
17 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Duane and his family have done an awesome job of integrating livestock and cropland in a way that benefits both. Piling and grazing crop residue keeps...
176: Dr. Trey Patterson - Padlock Ranch
10 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Trey Patterson manages the Padlock ranch, a large family owned diversified cattle and farming operation, in Wyoming. He joins me today to talk abo...
175: Tony Malmberg - Ranching Success Story
03 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tony Malmberg started his ranching career with with enough setbacks to make most quit forever. He faced bankruptcy, the death of his father and divorc...