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The Grazing Grass Podcast features insights and stories of regenerative farming, specifically emphasizing grass-based livestock management. Our mission is to foster a community where grass farmers can share knowledge and experiences with one another. We delve into their transition to these practices, explore the ins and outs of their operations, and then move into the "Over Grazing" segment, which addresses specific challenges and learning opportunities. The episode rounds off with the "Famous Four" questions, designed to extract valuable wisdom and advice. Join us to gain practical tips and inspiration from the pioneers of regenerative grass farming.
This is the podcast for you if you are trying to answer: What are regenerative farm practices? How to be grassfed? How do I graze other species of livestock? What's are ways to improve pasture and lower costs? What to sell direct to the consumer?
Welcome to grazing grass
podcast, episode 142.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359: I tell
folks, take photos and tell your story.
Cal: You're listening to the
grazing grass, podcast, sharing
information and stories of
grass-based livestock production
utilizing regenerative practices.
I'm your host, Cal Hardage.
You're growing more than grass.
You're growing a healthier
ecosystem to help your cattle
thrive in their environment.
You're growing your livelihood by
increasing your carrying capacity
and reducing your operating costs.
You're growing stronger communities
and a legacy to last generations.
The grazing management
decisions you make today.
impact everything from the soil beneath
your feet to the community all around you.
That's why the Noble Research
Institute created their Essentials
of Regenerative Grazing course to
teach ranchers like you easy to follow
techniques to quickly assess your forage
production and infrastructure capacity.
In order to begin
grazing more efficiently.
Together, they can help you grow
not only a healthier operation,
but a legacy that lasts.
Learn more on their website at noble.
org slash grazing.
It's n o b l e dot org
forward slash grazing.
On today's show we have Jake Yancey.
Jake and his family operate tracking
Y ranch in Western Washington.
There are first generation
ranching family.
They operate cow and calf to finish
operation and sell direct to consumers.
Tracking Y ranch operates on lease
properties, across the four county
area with two thirds of the properties
owned by conservation groups, or,
and, or under conservation easement,
which makes for a very interesting
discussion about leasing land.
And coming up with your
plan to how to use it.
Jake likes to call it
prescribed conservation grazing.
Really good episode.
I think you will enjoy it.
Uh, 10 seconds about the farm.
We have received almost
nine inches of rain.
Over the last week, since last
week when I told you we were
dry, but rain was expected.
Um, so things are a little bit wetter
today, and we have rain coming in later.
By time you hear this?
I think the rain is going to be out
of this area, but those people to the
east in Missouri may be getting a ton.
10 seconds about the podcast.
But last week I suggested you
joined the grazing grass community.
And we had one individual join
it, but he called me out on it.
Stacy joined it and he put on his
question to join the community.
It asks what motivated you to join.
And that's really just so we
can keep scammers out of there.
And know people have real intentions
while Stacy put, cause Cal keeps telling
me too every week on the podcast.
So yes, they see you're right.
I will work on.
Asking you all to do
something differently.
But Stacy, I appreciate you joining
the grazing grass community,
and I hope it's a value to you.
Let's go ahead and talk to Jake.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Jake, we want to
welcome you to the Grazing Grass Podcast.
We're excited you're here today.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
Hey Cal same to you.
Thanks for having us on
and we truly appreciate the
opportunity to speak with you
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Wonderful.
Jake, to get started, can you
tell us a little bit about
yourself and your operation?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
Yeah, so myself wouldn't be included
if I didn't talk about my family.
I have a wonderful wife and twin daughters
that are a huge part of our operation.
I went grew up in Eastern Washington.
We get about 10 inches of rain over there.
Grew up in Wheatland and a lot of
rangeland grazing operations over there.
Subsequently ended up moving over
to Western Washington later on
in life and got out of any sort
of ranching or anything else.
I went to school for some ag
business for a short period of time.
I
kind of worked in managed
ranches for about five years in.
In 2015, after working regular
jobs we were given the opportunity
to pick up a cow calf herd.
One of our friend's family farm
had been sold for development.
And so, with 30 days notice,
he gave us a call and said,
Hey, are you interested in
getting our cow calf herd?
And so, like every Western Washington
farmer wants to do, the best time
to jump into cattle is in November
in Western Washington when we get
between 70 and 110 inches of rain.
And I always say my wife has made
probably two goofy decisions in life.
The first was probably marrying
me and the second was trust in us.
And so in 2015 she said, Hey, I trust
that we'll be able to make this work.
And so in 2015 we picked up that cow, a
small cow calf herd, brought it to our
little five acres and my wife said, Hey,
how the heck are we gonna make this work?
And so we knocked on a bunch of
doors and fast forward to today.
We managed just over a thousand acres
of grazing ground in a four county area.
And our cow herd has grown exponentially.
We sell a hundred percent of our
cattle are marketed direct to consumer.
We do a cow calf to finish program
and we offer both grass fed grass
finished and grass fed grain finished.
And by meaning that all of our
cattle always stay on pasture.
They never go to a feedlot
confinement or anything else.
So.
That's where our grass fed
part of it kind of comes in.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359:
that's, that's very interesting.
Just from my notes, I got all
kinds of questions already, Jake.
First, first off, just for
clarification, you're in western
Washington now, and what kind of
rainfall do you get out there yearly?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359: Well
we, it's a goofy rain pattern Our,
Our, dry season, well we're coming in
right now We're coming up on November
so about October rain season starts.
And rain season will end up going
all the way from about October,
and seasons have been drying out.
And so now it's ending
about May, maybe June,
and during that period of time, depending
on what county we're in of our four county
area, we can range anywhere between about
60, 70 to about 110 inches of rain a year.
The problem is that we
suffer in Western Washington.
Is once that spigot shuts off in May
June at the best we really get no
rain the whole rest of the season.
So you'll go four or five
months with not a drop of rain.
We call it our grass rains,
anything that counts.
So we kind of drought
out during the summer.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: oh, yes.
That's, that's very interesting.
I've talked to, to farmers,
ranchers, and Eastern Washington.
And I talked to, um, Ben, let's
try and think of his name, Ben.
That's on Prince Albert Island, Vancouver
Island, Vancouver Island, I believe.
So he's north
of U of Ways, but he's right
there on that West coast as well.
That's, In that environment, that gives
you a lot of potential with that rain, but
at the same time, it shuts off like you
said, and you've got a few months there
that it's dry and you've got to plan for.
So, very interesting.
I'm excited to learn more about
your operation and see how it goes.
So, growing up, did you know you always
wanted to ranch or have cattle, livestock?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
Farming was in my blood and
stuff, but that was truly our love.
We grew up in a little
town that we grew up in.
There's a sheep operation behind
it, and the older rancher that was
there, we used to spend Respectfully,
we used to spend the mornings and
stuff going out and lifting sheep up.
And he got to the point in his age
where he just didn't, wasn't able
to maintain the sheep herd and
cheer them and everything else.
And our family took over kind
of the lead on that process.
And we set up yearling cheerings.
And so I remember as a kid climbing in
wool bags stuffing wool or working in
the wheat fields, roguing and pulling
rye grass and stuff out of them.
So it's always been my love.
It's been my passion.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: That,
that, that's interesting.
I have to say that is quite the contrast
to my sheep experience as a kid.
We had, obviously we had beef cattle
and we had some goats that we pinned
up in the chicken yard each night
and we'd just turn them out and
they'd, they'd go out on the pasture.
And then dad bought three sheep
or three ewes and one buck.
So four, I, I should be able
to do three plus one math.
And we had a neighbor dog get in there.
and he, he didn't kill them,
but he caused their death.
They just gave up.
It was, it was really traumatizing
to a young kid for that to happen.
Then a few years later, my dad and one of
his friends decided to get some sheep and
they actually kept them at my friends.
or my dad's friend's place and I
remember going over there and seeing
that and that was pretty short lived.
So our sheep experience when I was
a kid was not all that favorable.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359: Nope,
they're definitely a different animal.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359:
oh, oh they are, they are.
Now I've got too many
of them so I don't know.
I keep trying to get more.
So, so you had experience with sheep and
went to college, you decided to go in ag?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359: Yeah.
So worked a bunch of cattle operations
starting about my sophomore year,
me and a fellow rancher that really
kind of took me under his wing and
we kind of started a stocker program.
And
so, we had a property in Western
Washington that we were able to secure
and we ended up buying spring cattle.
Yeah.
And then we keep them on grass
and then market them in the fall.
And so we did that kind
of all throughout college.
And then I would end up working different
operations, building fence and they
were all cattle based operations.
That's kind of the standard over here.
And so did that.
I've worked now in Montana Northern Oregon
Washington state, both sides of the state.
And then even worked the last operation
was a guest ranch operation that I ranch
prior to getting a full time job.
So.
And then ultimately getting
into the back into cattle.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: So, one question
there that, that I get from a lot of
people, in, just in transparency, I
went to school for ag, and then I,
I changed paths a little bit later,
but I have an animal science degree.
Why did you choose to go to school,
in an ag degree rather than just
go ahead and start working on
ranches or, or managing cattle.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
Well, Cal, I was blessed.
I was super active with Future
Farmers of America at the time.
We just transitioned over to the
FFA, National FFA organization.
I was active.
I was a state FFA president
my senior year in high school.
And so that opportunity gave
me the great opportunity.
I had a one year scholarship to
Washington State University uh,
where I ended up studying, go Cougs.
And then I made the
decision at that point.
Everybody's got a different path.
I kind of refused to take out
college loans and everything else.
I ended up working that that summer at
a operation here on Western Washington.
And then came back the next year and
I knew if I got out of college at that
point, it was going to be hard to restart.
And my dad always taught me that, Hey,
get a degree or get education that you
can use, even if the great depression
comes around and I'd already been
shoeing horses since about the age of 12.
And I said, you know what?
I'm going to get myself a piece of paper
and I'm going to go to farrier school.
And so I came back to Walla
Walla Community College.
I enrolled in the farrier
program, being a horseshoer.
And ended up doing that.
And I'd do that in the morning.
I'd come to school.
We'd start at 7 o'clock.
And I do that till one o'clock and then I
take night classes after my first quarter
and I do that till 10 o'clock each night
trying to work on that two year degree.
After that second year, once again, went
back to work in ranches and operations.
And I decided to make the choice
it was just the route that I chose.
There's no, no good, no bad way.
It's just how the route that I chose.
I didn't want to take out any more money.
loans or anything else.
And so I ended up getting a full
time job and going that route instead
of continuing my college education.
I don't have a four year degree.
As a matter of fact, I don't
even have a two year degree.
But I have two years of great
education and I have a bunch of time
spent behind the shovel and building
and working cattle and livestock.
So
we all learn different,
different routes in life.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh, we do.
We do.
And you know, I, I come at it.
I was raised, my dad was
very adamant I get a degree.
And I can remember going to
college and one set of grandparents
was very pro education, very
much, you gotta get your degree.
And my dad and mom was like,
you gotta go get your degree.
My other set of grandparents was like,
you're going into animal science.
Just come home and work on the farm.
Don't, don't.
Don't worry about spending that money.
So it's, it's a tough call
for whatever you're choosing.
And I love your path there.
You decided to get something
that can make you some money
while you went through school.
You had a diverse range of experiences
farriering horses doing cow calf ranching
and sheep earlier and then in 2015 you
had that opportunity to buy some cows.
I assume at that point You and your
wife had already broadened the subject.
It wasn't a brand new subject
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359: Yeah.
She always knew where my
love and my passion was.
The downfall is We all get
kind of different investments
that folks make for us.
And unfortunately and that's
kind of how I describe it.
I didn't have a family
that passed on stuff or
anything else as, as far as our ranching
operation rather the wife and I both
work full time and we still do today with
that, that's been our investment strategy.
Sometimes with families, they invest
in their children and everything else.
And they've made those choices
throughout generations.
And they're able to pass down
those ranches and those operations.
And sometimes just the simple things that
just simply those tools that we end up
building up with time and everything else.
And our investment has solely
been one that we've made.
And once again, just like.
educational opportunities.
There is no right and wrong way.
There's just different
ways of doing that process.
And so the wife knew that that was
always kind of my dream, and that if
the opportunity ever presented itself
my hope was to go that direction.
Yeah,
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359:
opportunity presents itself.
And I think you said you purchased them
and brought them back to five acres.
What, what, what was your,
your thought pattern then?
And the reason I asked Jake, you
know, for a lot of times early
in my career, I get that chicken
and egg issue, which comes first.
Do I buy the livestock first?
Do I find land to lease
or buy land to lease?
And if I, if I find some land to lease.
And I don't have livestock,
what good is the land?
But I can't buy livestock if
I don't have land available.
So, so walk us through that decision.
Because that's a little interesting
to bring some on to just five acres.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
yeah, it's completely crazy.
It's frankly how it is, Cal.
And I think it kind of speaks
to how grazing operations
in western Washington work.
We're not able to stockpile forage.
And that's one of the
differences over here.
We just
get too much rain.
And.
Yeah, and, and our winters
aren't cold enough.
So we, we hover often our winters and
stuff hover in that 40 degree range,
that 50 degree throughout most of winter.
We'll, we'll get some cold days that
will drop into the teens and, and
everything, but for the most part,
we're just hovering above freezing.
And so that leaves any
stockpiled forage that you end
up having molding on the stem.
With that in mind You have to have some
sort of pasture based or confinement
style feeding come wintertime.
Otherwise, you just tear
up the soils too much.
Like I said, that 60
70 inches of rain falls during
those six months of winter.
And so you will just destroy
a field pretty quickly.
And so you
have to make some decisions.
I understood those production
curves and kind of where
timing was and everything else.
And I understood I had a one season that
I'd be able to bring that cow calf herd
back to our small acres, move some horses
around, and we were going to make it work.
You're completely right.
It's, it's hard.
Do you, do you go take,
do you go get everything?
In line before and then do you go that
way or do you take a leap of faith?
And
we've been, we had a lot of the
infrastructure, some of it in place.
We, we run a we have
horses and everything else.
And so we had trailers, we had trucks,
we had panels, we had the basics of that.
And from my years in ranching,
I had a lot of the tools and
supplies to do a lot of it.
As far as the land, probably the most
important one, we didn't have that.
But my wife had faith in me and
everything else, and living in
western Washington we're losing lots
and lots of our ag ground now to
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh yeah.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359: And so we
see lots of maintenance issues and stuff
as property owners make that decision
that they want the rural lifestyle,
but unfortunately sometimes they're
balancing the maintenance needs that
those type of purchases and such require.
And so we kind of joke I'm kind of
the Jehovah witness of cattlemen.
And so what I did is that basically
first day once we brought the cattle
home, I started knocking on doors.
And I was like, hey, do you
believe in grass fed beef?
For lack of better, that
wasn't the line by any means.
But I went and talked to these
property owners and I said, hey,
Every year you're spending a couple
thousand dollars to have a guy come
out and brush hog this property.
Every year I'm watching your fences
become more and more deteriorated.
Every year I'm seeing more and more
invasives growing on your property.
What if you allow us to
come in, run our cattle.
We'll maintain all of those things.
You'll be able to enjoy all the perks of
the agricultural lifestyle and everything.
We'll maintain those fences.
We'll do all that upkeep.
Then unfortunately it
costs and everything else.
And in exchange you allow us to
have our cattle on your properties.
That first year we, we picked up
just over a couple of hundred acres,
and like I said, it continues
to bloom and, and grow.
Two thirds of our property
are really weird only a third
of ours are privately owned.
Two thirds of ours are in
conservation easements, or
owned by conservation groups.
And so, all of those two thirds have
endangered species on them, and so
we work very, very closely with our
scientific and our property owner
groups and stuff, studying those
effects of grazing on those species.
So
it's been an interesting
relationship how closely we work
with that scientific community.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh, very good.
And we're going to get a little
deeper into that a little bit later.
When you went and started knocking
on doors, did you, you find people
receptive or did you get a lot of
people like, no, it's not for us?
How did that go for you?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
Yeah, I think the number one question
is everybody heard nightmares of
cattle getting out and everything.
I mean, that's the number number
one concern is, hey, we
used to have cows here.
They got out all the time.
How's that going to work?
I was blessed spent about 66 months,
almost a year building high tensile
electric fence, New Zealand style.
And
so I'd done that, done that commercially
and, and truly believed in it.
And so most of the fences that
we built on our property and
such were along those styles.
When we were huge believers in the power
of electric fence not only from the pain
compliance issue and stuff, but just the
psychological, the cattle just respect it.
And so, When we told property owners,
Hey, the number one thing that we're
going to do is we're going to go in
and immediately we're going to install
at least a single strand of electric
fence around your property to keep
those cows in and they will stay.
The other part of that is we provide
all of our property owners with a
packet that has all of our phone numbers
that you can get hold of us anytime.
And the main thing is that we
carry an insurance policy as well.
Granted that we never want to use it.
And that kind of put property
owners at a lot of a lot of ease
and kind of soften that blow.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh yeah.
I, I think a few things there
you said really will help
them and calm those fears.
Did they, beyond those fears,
did they have anything else or?
Any other concerns right off or
was that really the main ones?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
No, I think the other thing that
everybody's always interested in
is the, what is what's in it for me
type thing.
And so unlike some parts of
agriculture, we share our economics.
We're an open book.
And so we make it very, very clear
that, Hey, yeah, we're grazing
your property, but here's all the
costs of production that we have.
And on the flip side, we tell our property
owners, all them improvements and the
benefits that they're going to get.
So much so that.
Just like I mentioned earlier with just
the brush hogging, hey, you're going
to be able to save that every year.
We're going to
assume those costs.
We're going to do that with my
landscapers being my cows out
there providing those services.
Furthermore, once a year, we provide our
property owners with a breakdown that
kind of breaks down all the improvements
that we've done on their property
and being really open and transparent
with the economic benefits of property
owners allowing us onto their ground.
Really, really helps to
kind of bridge that gap.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Are you leasing
land all per acre or per animal unit days,
or is there some kind of profit sharing?
What are you using for,
for their monetary model?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
So, so we do it solely based
on improvements the property.
We tell folks you, you just look at what
the cost is to brush hog a property or
spray or rebuild fence or anything else.
We also talk to the property owners.
Each of them kind of has, and we're very
transparent and open with them as far as,
Hey, what's your goals with the property?
And unfortunately, sometimes that
may be, Hey, In five years, we're
going to be developing this property
and we don't have, we don't have to like
it or anything, but those are, that's part
of that open story that we end up having,
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh yeah.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
just the same.
Some of the property owners have some some
may call them lofty but we also call them,
it's a relationship as far as investments
that they're wanting in their property.
One of them we just did on one of our
properties was we redecked about a 40
foot bridge on their property, which gave
them access not only to the other side of
their property and allows them to travel
it with their quad and UTV, but those
are costs that we assume, and we share
those costs with that yearly breakdown,
telling them, Hey, this is the financial
costs that we're out to do this, and then
just sharing the openness of what those
improvements on land is it's astronomical.
We tell folks we can run cattle and
pay people per month, per day, per
whatever that you want to break it
down but the costs of maintaining and
keeping up a property are significant
and, in a million different ways.
I think there's days when the wife
and I wake up and we'd love the
opportunity just to have someone
else do that and just pay a
monthly bill instead of doing all the
maintenance and improvement projects.
But those are real costs and our property
owners see it so much so that every
day that we go out to a property, we'll
send them a text message just so they
understand the amount of commitment
that we're doing on their properties.
So
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh, so, so
that's a lot of communication, letting
them know whenever you're out there.
There's just the few things you
listed that I wrote down here.
A lot of communication, yearly breakdown.
I think that's great.
You're building that relationship,
which is so important and I'll be
honest, I build that relationship and
I've got land lease, but I've got to
do a better job of the, of the back
end or the, the follow up after it's
leased and making sure they're involved.
So I really like that.
You also mentioned you gave
them a property owner's packet.
What is a property owner's packet?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359: for
lack of better, it's a three ring binder.
The cover of that is a map of their
property that lays out and we just
pull it off Google earth and draw out.
And we agree with the property owners that
we have 365 day access to the properties.
So if we want to come during the wet,
rainy season and work on a fence project
when we don't have livestock out there
because that's what works for our
schedule or whatever, then that works.
Obviously, if something comes up,
we're completely willing to work with
property owners such as they've had
weddings and such on properties that,
hey, we'd like you off the property for
a couple days while we set stuff up.
The second page of that, right when
you end up opening it, includes
all of our emergency contacts.
Those are phone numbers,
emails, everything.
And we always carry our cell phone.
It's one of my main things I tell
people is return a dang phone call.
Return a text.
Take two seconds, even if it's, Hey.
I'll get back to you.
It means the world to
folks when they can get
hold of you.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359: And then,
as we go through that, the, going into
the next pages normally involves if the
property owner wants a specific contract.
We only have wordy contracts,
I describe them as, on a
couple of our properties.
And then it includes a copy of that
insurance policy so that they have a
peace of mind that if something happens,
that they have that there with them.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh, yes.
Oh very good I I think
that's a a tremendous idea
Jake that I'm disappointed.
I haven't been doing that I just
think that that's that's wonderful
you got started down this journey.
When you started down this journey, were
you thinking, okay, we're going to do
grass fed, grain finish, grass fed, grass
finish, direct to consumer, and we're
going to use regenerative practices?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359: Yeah,
Cal, I, I knew that on a small scale that
just selling cabs in the, in the spring
was not going to provide the revenue
stream that we were going to need as a
small operation and at the same time
needing the revenue stream that's got
to be higher on a price per unit basis
based on the fact that we're not operating
off a home base operation that we drive
out the back door every single day and
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh, yeah.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
And so we break those type of,
just those parts of the story.
We break down to our property
owners that every time I drive to
your place at 62 cents or whatever
my wife tells me the government's
decided that the cost is each year.
But those are real costs of production.
And so just a simple trip to
a property owner's house and
stuff may cost 10 in mileage.
That's where tear on the trucks
and trailers and everything else.
And that's not even before
we start looking at the costs
of of our time and figuring
in what that calculation looks like.
So we knew that the only route that
was going to end up doing was a
direct to consumer based operation.
And then we offered both the
grass finished as well as the
grain finished as an option.
And for our market, where we're
currently at and what our customers
end up wanting is the grain
finish part of it has been huge.
And at the
same time, Because of how our structure
is and everything else we have to stay
on those pastures and move which is
good not only for the soils requirements
and such that every sometimes three
to five days at the very most those
cattle are moving on to fresh grass.
And even in our grain operation we
use drag sled feeders that are just
wooden boat feeders, for lack of
better, that we drag along the ground.
And so, those cattle stay on that same
pasture that they'd be on the grass
finish program as well, all
the way up till harvest.
And so we knew
that we had to figure out some way to get
that revenue stream a little bit higher.
And we knew that that market strategy
was going to be the way, the only way
that I could figure out sitting and
dreaming of what this was going to look
like if I ever got the opportunity.
That's the only way I
could see it working.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Right.
It sounds like you all have really
done a great job with getting your
numbers down and knowing your financial
status and what you need to do.
So very impressive there, Jake.
With your grass fed finish
versus grain, grain finish.
Yeah, I think I said that right.
Let me try it again.
With your grass finish and your grain
finish, you're finding consumers
are preferring your grain finish.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
Yeah, it's just, we have a couple
other producers that are nearby
that offer only grass finished.
And so it's kind of been a a way that
our customers can make the decision
kind of where they end up going.
And it's worked out.
We, we offer both and it's really
easy for us in our operation because
all of our cattle never get any
grain until that last 60 to 90 days.
And then at that point, we can
diverge those cattle depending on
what their finishing needs are for
that last stage up till harvest.
And so, we don't have a, All
the cattle stay on a grass based
diet solely all the way up till
those that last finishing stage.
So it's really
easy for us to make those
production decisions.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: And on that
grain that they're getting that last
60 or 90 days, are you doing any
specialty there like non GMO or soy free
or are you just using regular grain?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
Regular grain, we have a local grain
mill that's actually in Tacoma,
which is now a very commercialized
city, and there's a Old 1900s mill
that's still operating right in the
downtown part of town that we buy from.
And so it's a
family owned operation.
And so we're blessed
to purchase from them.
They, they do mix and source
some of their stuff locally.
But other than that we run.
A pasture based operation solely, but
none of our operation do we describe as
anything special as far as organic or
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh, yeah.
Oh, very good.
Now when you, you talk about, you
can finish them on grass, you can
finish them on grain, 60 to 90 days.
Are you finishing throughout the
year or are you targeting one time
for finishing a group of animals?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
Yeah, so, so we run three, it kind of
talks to our grazing strategy, so we
run three different groups of cattle.
We don't run a mono herd.
And so we have our cow calf program
that runs on one set of pastures.
We have our stocker cattle.
They're just our, they're our teenagers
as I described them to the layman.
And they are just getting older.
And they're normally our
yearlings that are post weaning.
And then we have our finishing cattle.
And our finishing cattle
always get on the best grass.
Out of that whole group.
And so it kind of goes the highest end
of our nutritional pasture qualities.
Go with that finishing group all the,
all the way dependent on regardless,
sorry, of which group that is.
If it's the grain, going to
be the grain finish selection
or the grass finish selection.
And then the mother cows
get the second best grasses.
And then our stocker cattle.
They're just teenagers.
They're just growing.
And so, we can use them as kind of
our pasture maintenance and work on
a bunch of our invasive management
tools, using them as a grazing tool.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh, yeah.
At about what age are you
finishing your cattle?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359: Just
over two years is kind of our marketing
strategy and kind of our production goal.
Our high end of our finishing
is just about 30 months.
But everything we're, we shoot for 24
and then some ended up slipping a little
bit longer to that 30 month period.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Are you taking
them in as groups to a processor?
Do you have a, the, you know, to me, I
always think the on the farm processor
that comes out and will dispatch your
animal and then take it to process is the
holy grail that we don't have right here.
How's that working for you?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359: Yeah,
those are great discussions, Cal.
In the butcher industry, one of the
last operations I did was a butchering
operation right here in western
Washington that did a cow calf operation
and as well as had a butcher shop.
Red cutters are something that is
a meat cutting and livestock term
that's associated with meat cutting.
Normally it's because the cattle
are too stressed immediately
prior to being slaughtered.
Often that's a product
of moving them around.
It's sometimes stress from handling,
sometimes even breed selection,
all play into those factors.
There's a bunch of other things
that can be argued as well.
But with that, a couple of things
ended up changing in our operation.
Our cattle are moving all the time.
So our herds are loading into trailers
every month and a half, two months.
And they've done that their whole
entire life, depending on as they
move through some of those pastures.
And so they understand that
when a trailer shows up.
As a general rule they cooperate
and they understand that,
hey, we're going to, we're
going to fresh pasture.
And so that is not an unexpected process
with, which is, is different than in some
operations where the cattle may have never
once in their life even been on a trailer.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh, yeah.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359: it's
stress, true stresses of production that
they have to load up and go to harvest.
We only do one harvest a year by that
I mean we only have one season that
we end up harvest, and so that's the
first weeks of November, and we do that
very timely with that, and we believe
that that's what makes our product
consistent for our consumers year after
year, because our cattle don't eat any
hay all the way up till the time of
harvest, they have gone a full grazing
season of being on fresh pasture all
the way up The day that they are harvested
so they're not harvested in the middle
of winter when we've been feeding two,
three months of hay and haylage rather
they come off of staying straight on
pasture, they load into the trailers and
then our harvest facility and, and the
kill process ends up happening direct at
the two butchers that we end up doing.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh, very good.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
We do only end up in our
state, Washington State.
We have a Washington State WSDA, a
Washington State Department of Ag process.
And so we're only able to sell currently
in halves, quarters, and wholes.
We do
not use the USDA marketing model
right now and or harvesting so that
we cannot legally sell by the cuts.
And so if someone wants to
buy hamburger 10 pounds of
hamburger or such at this time.
We're just not there right now.
Our customer demand has been
great for the halves, quarters
and wholes and buying as shares.
They're sometimes referred
to dependent on the
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh, yeah.
So, you allude to it right there.
It's not been a problem
with your customers.
Do you have people coming to you
wanting to buy, buy the cut, and
then it becomes your job to educate
them on how you can sell it to them,
and then do they become a customer?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359: Yeah,
Cal, that's a great, great thing.
And there could be a whole separate
series on just the complexities of that
and kind of nationwide what I believe
there's a great demand for right now
getting products into healthy, locally
raised products into the hands of
consumers is a huge barrier, not only
from a production standpoint, but also
just from a consumer health standpoint.
We have huge metropolitan areas
that are within 60 miles of us from
Seattle, the largest city in our state.
We got Tacoma, we got Olympia,
we have Portland, all of
those markets that are huge.
And unfortunately, those folks,
most of them don't have a
large freezer at their place,
but sometimes a quarter of
beef takes up everything.
And as we describe to folks,
you can fit a quarter of beef.
We raise smaller animals, so we're
finishing around 1, 000 pounds.
So our halves and our halves run about
300 pounds is what we kind of is our
target goal that we end up shooting for.
That's smaller than some producers
that will go up to 450 or so.
But with that, a quarter of
our beef normally will fit
in a standard lower freezer.
But we tell folks, if you do
that, you won't be able to
have that ice cream in there.
And
those are sometimes the trade offs that
some of these metropolitan produce.
Customers have to make as far as
if they're interested in buying
a
share or they want to pay the more
inflated price by buying by the
cut at their local butcher and
going through those processes.
So we're kind of really, we really
push our state and everything else.
And I really hope there
becomes more models.
Montana has a Montana grown program
where producers, all their butcher shops
that are certified, I believe, can.
Butcher and process rate in
the state for intrastate sales,
uh, not interstate, so they can sell
directly to so we're hoping that our
state can jump on board and become
one of those as well in the future,
just so that we can provide more
beef direct to those customers that
really, really would be great, not
only from a marketing standpoint, but
just for community health standpoint.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Two things on there.
I want to talk about breeds of cattle.
I always have to talk about that.
I want to talk to about that.
But before we go there on your website,
you have a brochure for your consumers.
Actually, after talking to you, this
does not shock me at all, but when I
saw it, I was like, this is wonderful.
I was very impressed with it.
The way you have it broke down, so
you have something to give to your
consumers for more information, and then.
If they want to get beef
to process and stuff.
I, I just thought that was really good.
If someone wants to look at a great
example, you have one on your website.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
Thanks, Cal.
Appreciate it.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: And
then my other question or my
other comment was towards breeds.
Let's talk breeds just a moment before
we get to the overgrazing section.
What breeds are you working with?
Have they been consistently the
same breeds your whole time?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
Yeah, so we run a black baldy program.
So we have a lot of Hereford
influence in our herd.
But we've been breeding for years now
with mainly Angus dominated cattle.
And those are all black Angus.
We do that for, for a
couple of different reasons.
Like I said, one of our biggest
downfalls of our operation
is we don't own any property.
And so if in a worst case scenario, if
the world fell to pieces and we lost
every one of our leases we would have
to liquidate our whole entire herd.
And At least in our area, and
I think it's a nationwide thing
and stuff, black hearted cattle
are still drawing a premium.
And so, with that and planning for the
future and making those smart decisions,
even from my wife's standpoint, that if
something was to ever happen to me or
something and she had to liquidate the
herd where do we make those decisions?
And so, We breed black cattle just
for that exit strategy if we have to.
The other thing is, we have a
great experience with Angus cattle
as far as their average daily
gains that we end up getting.
And then docility is one of
our biggest culling traits.
We do not put up with attitudes.
It's the first one that
goes on the butcher block.
We get rid of cows that cause
issues or anything else.
And we found more as I've traveled
across and worked with different.
Breeds of cattle and everything else.
The number one thing that I've
seen is culling decisions are
paramount to almost anything.
Everything from daily gains,
to temperament, to carcass
size, all of those things.
Those are really in the hand of
the producer, that you really
get a shape and start to make
those production based decisions.
And so it's been one of those things.
That we've really stressed ourselves
on and the Angus frame has kind
of helped us as well, kind of
maintain around a thousand
pound finishing weight as well.
And so kind of balancing all those things
that's why we've kind of steered that way.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Something you
said there, I love so much of what you
said, but something you said there,
I immediately thought of real estate.
I'm, I'm a wannabe real estate investor.
I don't have money, but I want to my
brother and I talk about it all the time.
I'm trying to convince
him to spend money anyway.
But one, one thing they always talk about
in real estate is your exit strategy.
And you've got to have more than
one because you never know exactly
where the market's going to go.
If we could predict the market for
sure, we wouldn't need multiple
exit strategies, but we can't.
So we've got to have
multiple ways to get out.
And what if this happens?
X, Y, Z, whatever.
I think such forethought there that,
you know, if something happens and you
lose some of those leases or very many
of them, you've got animals that will go
through a sell ring and bring good value.
I know with some breeds we
find in the, the grass based.
arena.
Those animals are not going to bring
near what they're actually worth
through a traditional cell barn.
So I love the thought pattern there
about here's a potential issue we have.
Here's our exit strategy.
So in case something happens.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359: Just
like we provide the insurance to our
customers part of it being responsible
is providing that insurance to not only
my wife but even just our family as
far as making those type of decisions.
We had to kind of come up with that
plan and that, that's part of it.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Yeah,
I think excellent job there.
Jake let's transition to the overgrazing
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cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: We're going
to take a deeper dive into your
prescribed conservation grazing.
Earlier, you mentioned that Over
half the land you lease are owned
by conservation groups or something.
So, so tell us about that first and
then we'll talk a little bit about that.
Prescribed conservation grazing.
Sorry, I had to read my notes.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
No, you're great.
Two, yeah, two thirds of our properties
just over two thirds of our properties
are owned by conservation groups and
or are a combination of conservation
easements that are on the properties.
With that Washington State
is super sensitive towards
water quality based issues.
And so what we ended up doing early
in that, that first year was kind of
seeing a need for those property owners.
It may have been that they needed
stuff brush cut and so much so
that we ended up seeing also the
scientific community what they needed
as far as vegetation management.
And so that's where that kind of
meeting with those NGOs, those non
government organizations and partners.
Started that conversation as we
said, Hey, we can be part of that
solution and kind of work with you.
And so that's kind of where that
relationship kind of started, and at the
same time, recognizing that they were
doing it for a need for invasive species
management and or a combination of habitat
improvement for endangered species.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: So when
you, you meet with them and.
You described this as
prescribed conservation grazing.
Is this a plan that you all come
up with together to meet their
needs as well as your needs?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
Yeah, . TheresRS.
I think if you Google different
descriptions for grazing programs,
I think you'll, you're the Google
search may fill up too much
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359:
Oh, it might, yes.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
intensive management to managed
intensive to holistic to rotational
to clockwork to amp.
Yeah, you could go on and on.
And I think every program and stuff comes
back to the basis is we're interested
in the soil, we're interested in
water, and we're interested in plants,
and we're interested in ultimately
the production, making sure that our
operations are financially supported
for generations to come with production.
We chose prescribed conservation
grazing as kind of our description of
what we end up doing in our operation.
Very much so, because like I said, I have.
Two young daughters, and they were very
young when this process was, and many of
the terms they just did not understand.
And so
when we broke down each one of those
words, we described each one of our
properties as having its own prescription.
And when we meet with those
property owners, we ask them
what their prescription is.
And just the same, In the interest of
transparency we always describe it to
folks of if you're having heart issues
and you have to take a blood thinner so
that you don't have a heart attack, that's
going to save your life most likely.
But, just like a prescription, there
may be downfalls and side effects.
And we do not shy away from saying those
things and stuff in terms of grazing.
That yes, there may be downfalls,
there may be side effects of grazing
that maybe are not always perfect.
And so we're very open
with those prescriptions.
Those prescriptions may run from
controlling cool season annuals
like rat tail fescue, which is
an invasive grass that we end up
dealing with that we're targeting.
It may end up involving managing
grazing windows to support endangered
species like the Mazama pocket
gopher on our prairie habitats.
It may involve for some of our property
owners as wildfires became bigger just.
Fire load reduction as we try to hit those
targets by the 4th of July, reducing those
fire loads or late in the season here.
We have the Oregon spotted frog, which
is endangered and creating a habitat that
supportive of the Oregon spotted frog is
the seasonal floodwaters kind of increase.
So each property has its own prescription.
We describe it as conservation.
Because every one of our properties
we do a lot of things and stuff in the
interest of habitat and wildlife that
may include different deferral windows
to support breeding seasons and such,
and it even goes so far as the fence
designs and construction that we end
up doing to include using such things
as tilt up fences, which provide no
barrier opportunities for wildlife.
To simply walk underneath 12 foot areas
as we lift the fences into the air and
deer and elk are able and bear are able
to walk right underneath our fences.
And so we do such things as that
solely based on not simply from a
production based standpoint, but that.
And then the last part being grazing.
Our cattle, like I said, they spend their
whole entire grazing season on pasture.
And even during wintertime, we
continue to keep them on large paddock
rotations as we pasture feed, and they
never eat out of bunks or anything
else in a confinement based system.
We're not saying that as a negative,
it's just how our operation ends
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359:
your operation, yeah.
Very good.
I think that's very interesting.
You're taking in You know, like you
said, there's all kinds of ways to take
it but a very holistic view of it, and
really looking at those other factors
involved in what, in determining how
you're grazing that property, whether
it's a grazing window, or you're
reducing fire load at a certain time,
or, or battling invasive species.
So, very interesting.
Is there anything In that, that's
cause that maybe you didn't foresee
as you started through that journey.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
Yeah, I, I knew from a production
standpoint that everything was not
going to be Sugar and gumdrops, and
that there were going to be, there
were going to be times when stuff
didn't work out that may involve such
things as a wet sequence coming in
and we have a corral system that's
stuck in lower ground that we have to
get out and causing rutting in
pastures and those type of things it
may involve cattle overgrazing and
pugging up soils because we're unable
to rotate them in a timely fashion.
It may involve such questions as,
hey, with our grazing program, grazing
right at the water's edge, what is
that going to do to such things as
fecal coliform and water quality?
And one of the cool things that
we've been able to do is have those
honest, open conversations, not
trying to hide any of those things,
and rather approaching it from,
hey, If this and when this
happens, what are we going to do?
And I think you touched base
on this earlier, Cal, is
communication's a big thing with us.
And we communicate and we work
with our conservation partners.
I think every two, three days I'm
sending a text message or an email or
something, communicating with them.
Even such as sharing when
we end up rotating cattle,
when those come off and such.
We, we've been blessed
with that relationship.
Some of the things that have
been interesting was, hey,
how has water quality ended
up working in your operations?
And we are very diligent in that.
We just finished up Oregon Spotted
Frog Program figuring out how that
ends up working by grazing cattle
right up to the water's edge.
And fecal coliform numbers did increase.
But I'm happy to report that we
went from zero parts per million
to three parts per million.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh,
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
standard for drinking water is
around 200 parts per million.
So the amount that it increased
was absolutely nothing for
intensive purposes.
And One of the things that we were
not not aware that we were going to
end up find, finding and did is that
dissolved oxygens actually increased
when we ended up grazing cattle,
which increased the water quality and
the habitat survivability for fish.
And
we believe that this may be a contributing
factor of removing some of that
vegetation that otherwise would just
simply die and degrade in the water
if it had not been grazed and or had
simply been mowed and laid to rest.
And so, all of this was a very
interesting finding that we ended
up finding in the grazing with these
grazing programs, but at the same time,
we don't shy away from that sometimes
things are not going to work out
perfect with our production customers.
with our property owners.
And I can tell you that having
those open, honest conversations has
really helped to bridge those gaps.
And when those heartaches have came
up, they've been for all intents and
purposes, very manageable to work through.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh, very good.
With, you know, I, I sit here and think
I just want one thing to work perfectly.
That would be nice.
Oh, you talk about grazing
up to the water edge.
Are you watering those cows out of
those natural water sources there?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359: No.
So one of our biggest we have a couple
of different management requirements
when we end up taking on a property.
One is that we have well and or spring
fed Dedicated watering spots separate
than allowing our cattle to
drink out of open water sources.
So we require that at every
one of our properties.
And as a matter of fact, that's
been one of the limiting factors
with some of our properties.
And it's been one of our educational
opportunities with our conservation
partners as Land Trust and such have
taken over historical operations.
The old management practice was that in
our area, at least, Is they would come
in and bulldoze down those buildings,
those houses, those wellheads, and
everything else to return it to a
more natural state, where at the
same time, now we've we've lost the
opportunity for electric fences, we've
lost the opportunity for well based
water, and so for all intensive
purposes from a production basis,
we've lost that opportunity to use
grazing as a responsible management
tool on those properties that really,
when we talk to these property owners,
We believe that grazing is one of
the most fiscally responsible tools.
Running a diesel powered tractor every
year across your field makes absolutely
no sense when you can have cattle do
that for you, if managed properly.
And at this, and at the whole same
time producing a product that can be
consumed right in your communities.
I mean, what a win win on
so many different levels.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh, yeah.
I, I completely agree.
You know, livestock are essential
to a well functioning ecosystem.
And, and so often we see in these
return to nature or rewilding programs,
livestock are not always included.
In fact, down the road from me,
we have, there's a section of
land set aside by the owner.
All right.
For Boy Scouts and they don't
allow any grazing animals in there.
So it's an interesting thing to see
and drive by there and look at it, but
they just want to save it for wildlife.
Well, livestock is part of that
can really make it much better
than what you can get without it,
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
Very much so.
Very, very much so.
We've, we've got so far away from the
true interest of the rewilding processes.
Those just don't happen, unfortunately,
nor do, at least have I not seen them.
Because So much so we don't
allow rivers to flood.
We don't allow flood sequences
like they naturally occur.
We don't allow wildfire
like it naturally occurred.
All of those processes that
nature itself has in there.
We as a civilization have had
to make some tough decisions.
And I would describe it as the
prescription that we all have agreed
to that there's going to be some trade
offs and stuff, but we believe that
we're doing it for the greater good.
And just the same like the, going
back to the prescription side of
things, the great thing about a
prescription is it's fully adjustable.
You meet with your doctor regularly,
you talk about what's working, what's
not working, and kind of tweak it.
And so, very much so,
How that ends up working.
Mother Nature did many
of those tweaks for us,
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh, Yeah.
Yeah.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
and we've, we've, for all intents
and purposes, we've stopped many
of those things, sometimes for the
betterment of all but some of that
rewilding process is just not there.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Excellent discussion Jake, but it is
time we move to our famous four questions
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cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Same four
questions we ask of all of our guests.
And our first question, Jake,
what is your favorite grazing
grass related book or resource?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359: I think
as you've kind of followed along my
journey here one of the best ones I ended
up finding was Greg Judy no risk ranching
Custom grazing on lease ground.
It was very interesting.
I found Greg's books and stuff about two
years after getting into our operation
and it made me laugh that in many ways,
it seems like the two of us have a
very similar journey and one day I'd be
blessed to meet with them and be able to
sit around and have a cup of coffee and
discuss kind of how this ends up going.
But great book on looking at using
these pastures, especially for
first generation producers and kind
of what that ends up looking like.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: and a lot
of times I know growing up around
ag and cattle and we've got cattle.
My grandparents have cattle, but
I never, I never considered using
leased land as the first option.
It was like, I've got to buy some land.
Then I'll get some livestock and then
I'll get leased land just to grow it
to make my operation more efficient.
And Greg Judy does a great job of
explaining how you can get started
without all that capital outlay using
leased land and doing custom grazing.
So that, that book for me as
well was very influential.
It just took me longer to internalize
it, get it working for me.
Our second question, Jake.
What is your favorite tool for the farm?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
Oh, God, this is an easy one for us.
Every single one of our vehicles has one.
It's always found in
the driver's side door.
It is a Gallagher Fault Finder.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Oh, yes.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
And we have one in every single
vehicle and so much so that it's
labeled with what vehicle it's in.
So if it's ever missing, we
know exactly where it should be.
But these things are great.
It's a voltage meter for your
electric fences and at the same time
it, provides an amp flow indicator
that tells you what direction if
you have a fault on your fence.
So if a tree falls on, an insulator
falls off if your fence is set
up correctly it really helps and
speeds up that process as far as
troubleshooting for those
electric fence management issues.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Yeah, I, I
love a fault finder, voltage reader.
I actually use a remote control one
for my Stayfix, but I'm actually not
running my Stayfix Energizer anymore.
I'm using a Cyclops, so I don't
have the remote capability,
but I still carry that with me.
And I love the idea of label,
labeling them, kind of like you
label the remotes in your house.
How'd the living room
remote get in the bedroom?
You know, so you know where
that goes, so you're not at a
loss when you go, Where is that?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
Very much so.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Our third
question, Jake, what would you
tell someone just getting started?
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
I tell folks I hate social media
and I love it all at the same time.
I tell folks, take photos
and tell your story.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: yes.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359: We
do this for a multitude of reasons.
Agriculture is just like
many other industries.
We often keep those things secret as
far as what are steps for success.
And sometimes we even keep secret
those things that went bad.
And I think when we can, Teach
and share and and help each other.
God, it speeds that process up so much.
The other part of it is, and
this is a huge one for folks
that are on lease ground.
The power of before and after
photographs is a game changer.
And so by taking those photographs
in the world that we live in, Unlike
our old photo albums that mom used
to write the dates and where they
were taken on and everything back
Google now tracks all those things.
And so we literally can go back to those
properties and when we're writing those
year end reports, I can look at, hey,
what did that bridge look like a couple
years ago or where was that photograph?
And I can search by properties, I
can search by years and calendars.
And I can do a lot of before and
after photographs and show that and
often as producers, we sometimes I
think in all industries put emotions
in front of reality and photos.
I think those sometimes they
don't tell all the story.
They tell a lot of it.
And so we're able to take our emotions
and go, God, last year was a really
good, it was the best grass year ever.
And then we can go back and look
at photographs and go, huh, man,
grass was actually six inches
shorter and wasn't as green
and I didn't have as much
clover and everything else.
And so.
Share photographs and take photos
and tell stories and help each
other is a true true game changer.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: And i'm gonna
say that is wonderful advice that I
need to take I I often look in my photos
I'm, like I need some kind of photo for
whatever reason and I don't take enough
photos when i'm out there and then I'm
trying to think who I just talked to
about their place Oh, Blaine, that's on
a few episodes of before yours, he is
really good about taking photos and, you
know, getting a landmark in that photo.
So you're able to identify
where it is or some way, you
know, where you're taking it.
So you can see progression over time.
I think so important.
And the other part I have to do
better too, is tell my story.
I was talking to someone just the
other day and I said, marketing,
I'm not good at marketing.
They're like, I see you marketing the
podcast and getting that out there.
I said, I do okay with the podcast.
The farm, I do a terrible job.
I've got to, I've got to work on that.
So Jake, both of those things, I
don't know if you were aiming them
at me, but I'm thinking, yeah, I need
them, but excellent advice there.
And lastly, Jake, where can
others find out more about you
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
We have our website, www.
tracking, t r a c k i n g,
the letter y is in yancyranch.
com.
We're also on Instagram and Facebook
under Tracking Y Ranch as well.
So all three of those.
And then last but not least, we do post
some videos and everything just based
on format onto our YouTube channel.
So once again, under Tracking Y Ranch.
All of those things are great.
And then at our website, you can
sign up for our monthly newsletter.
We don't sell that information or
anything else and just send out
that monthly newsletter as a tool.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359:
on your monthly newsletter?
What's kind of the content of it?
Is it something that it'd be
beneficial for me to subscribe
to, or is it mainly more.
Consumer oriented.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359: Yeah,
we kind of do a basis of the kind of mix.
My daughters take a huge
opportunity in that.
It's kind of
one of their chores is putting
together that monthly newsletter.
Often it's telling about what's going
over on in the operation as far as
seasonally, so that folks understand
kind of what the processes are, what
projects we're working on.
And we always try to toss in some sort
of educational opportunity in there.
Maybe such things as, at this time of
year, we're getting ready for harvest.
And so we're giving our,
our purchasers some things.
tips and tricks for calling in those
cutting orders and things that they
may not think of such as if you're not
interested in so much hamburger, you may
ask for a lot more packs of stew meat.
And so we do lots of
steak bites that we bread and we do lots
of kebabs and all those types of things.
So little things like that that we
ended up tossing in there to include up
to even fencing ideas.
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Very good
Well, jake really appreciate you
coming on and sharing with us today.
I've enjoyed the conversation.
jake-yancey_1_10-23-2024_080359:
Thank you, Cal.
Sure.
Appreciate it.
And sure.
Appreciate your time.
Thank you for
cal_1_10-23-2024_100359: Well, thank you
Cal: I really hope you
enjoyed today's conversation.
I know I did.
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