After decades in the cattle business, I like to think I've seen it all - and then I learn I haven't. I'm often asked for my tips on making an operation profitable. Here's what I hear myself say time and again.

1. The Cow is EVERYTHING!
2. NEVER buy a BULL from an operation that has no steers!
3. NEVER buy cattle from an operation whose opening line is "I bought the top selling……………"
4. Cows should work for the farm, not the farm work for the cows!
5. Cows were designed to utilize forage. (Forage is GRASS, not corn.)
6. A DONOR COW IS: An elite genetic and environmentally superior animal that adds value to the breed, NOT a cow who SCREWED UP!
7. EXTREME: Is our environmental pressure.
8. EGO: A real cowman would starve to death on it.
9. REAL WORLD IS: A cow that breeds, calves unassisted, breeds back, and calves within 365 days, and raises a calf that makes a bull or a replacement heifer, in the environment she lives in, with minimal supplementation. REAL WORLD IS NOT: An operation where the feed truck runs 365 days a year no matter what the cows do.
10. STAY FOCUSED!