Ranchers should ask themselves: 'Are you cowed out?' - Ranching after 50

Many ranchers who hit middle age get to a point where they can hardly stand to look after cattle for another day. I have heard it called being cowed out.

Some friends told me about a ranching couple that used to talk about divorce sometimes when they had a fight, but they don’t now because neither one is willing to take the cows.

Suddenly being sick of your job or business is a common symptom for midlife men, prompting some to quit their jobs, sell the ranch or otherwise kick over the traces. Looking back in their 60s, these men may discover they acted too hastily, and all they really needed was some time away. A few weeks might have done the trick, but a few months would have been better.

Read Also

Producers face the reality of shifting grain price expectations

Significant price shifts have occurred in various grains as compared to what was expected at the beginning of the calendar year. Crop insurance prices can be used as a base for the changes.

There’s a problem though. Most men don’t think their businesses can run without them.

If you are your business, for example an actor, professional speaker, or a chef, you may not be able to have someone else run it for you. But if you are producing things, such as a ranch does, you can take a break.

Business owners who get away for a significant period often come back with renewed energy and a new perspective that allow them to run their operations with more creativity and less physical work.

The less physical work part is critical, because during their late 40s or early 50s, men begin to lose stamina, libido and energy. There is nothing wrong with this, it is a normal part of life. The mistake is in pretending it isn’t happening and trying to carry on as usual. It is much better to adapt to the changes.

When Blake Holtman, who owns Shipwheel Feeders at Taber, Alta., hit his early 50s, he began to lose energy. He keeps 6,000 cattle on feed, plus he usually runs about 700 yearlings on grass in the summer. He also acted as a broker for other feeders who wanted to contract live cattle to U.S. packing plants. His workdays used to start at 6 a.m. and ended sometime in the evening. He had been working six and seven day weeks for years, but he was getting so he could hardly keep up.

He wanted a sabbatical, but he didn’t see how he could take time away from his business. Then he noticed that friends of his who owned several auction markets would buy a business, get somebody to run it and move on. He reasoned that if they could have other people run their businesses, he could too.

He realized he already had an employee who could probably manage his business well. He talked to her about it, put her in charge, and prepared for his getaway.

Blake and his partner Bev bought a used motor home, had it wired for telephone and internet hookup and headed for Mexico.

If a telephone line was available where they stopped, he would connect his laptop computer and keep track of the cattle market. He could buy and sell animals, hedge his dollars over the internet, plus stay in touch with his office by phone or e-mail. If no landline was available, he used his digital cellphone, which he could connect to his computer to access the internet. In areas where his cellphone didn’t work, he found a pay phone somewhere to check in with his manager.

They spent three months in Mexico that first winter in 2001, and have gone back every year since. Blake says he is far more relaxed and easy going than he used to be. He still doesn’t have the physical energy he did so he is willing to let the younger people run the business.

His manager doesn’t always do things the way he would, but that hasn’t affected his business, which is running as well as when he was working six and seven days a week.

Don and Randee Halladay, both in their early 50s, who ranch near Rocky Mountain House, Alta., took a sabbatical too. It is a long one that is still going on. Randee said they were so cowed out they were thinking of dialing “cow 911.” They sold their entire herd the fall before the BSE crisis hit, rented their farm to a neighbour and headed south.

Don loves training horses, andhas reached instructor level in Pat Pirelli’s natural horsemanship program. They now give horse clinics around Canada in the summer and the United States in the winter.

If you are feeling cowed out, why not take a sabbatical too?

Think you can’t? Chances are one in five you will have to. Statistics show that about 20 percent of North American men have heart attacks, which definitely takes them out of commission for a while.

Whether you actually have a heart attack or not, it is simply wise planning to prepare for your business to run without you.

Once the plan is made, just put it in motion. Take a sabbatical and get rid of that cowed out feeling.

Edmonton-based Noel McNaughton is a professional speaker, facilitator, coach and writer who specializes in guiding men and women through the uncertainty of life transitions. He can be reached at 877-736-1552 or by e-mail at noel@mcnaughton.ca.