It’s hard today for young people to start raising cattle unless they inherit land or can be part of a family ranch. Land in most regions is priced too high to cash flow with cattle.

This is a huge challenge, but we need more young ranchers. Only 1% of the U.S. population is involved in agriculture, and the average age of farmers and ranchers is getting older. According to USDA statistics, most farm and ranch land is owned by people 65 and older. Farmers and ranchers under the age of 35 make up only 12.5% of the ag population.

Rick Machen, executive director of the King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management (KRIRM), says finding operating capital is tough today. If a person has no access to land and minimal ability to secure a loan, they have to work their way into the business.

“There is no substitute for experience — lessons learned in the school of hard knocks,” says Machen. “Often, the most valuable lessons are learned from failure, but that’s not necessarily fatal. Try to fail small. Cultivate and protect your integrity. Plan on hard work, long hours and sweat equity. People who own the resources (land and livestock) still value all three.”

Think creatively

“Find someone successful — spiritually, in family life, as a resource steward, and financially — in that order. Listen to and learn from them. Not every successful rancher is a good mentor,” says Machen. Don’t be afraid to ask someone you admire to mentor you.

Managing risk is essential, he says.

“Don’t bite off more than you can chew; don’t take on more debt or responsibility than you can manage,” Machen advises. “Diversification is key. If a spouse can work (off ranch or remotely) and receive benefits like health insurance, this provides a stable income for family support. Additional enterprises (in addition to cattle) provide opportunity to spread fixed costs and increase revenues. Consider sheep or goats.”

You might create another revenue source if you have a marketable skill like shoeing horses, leatherwork, photography, writing or making furniture. The list is endless. If you have even a small piece of land (and no liability issues that might be a hindrance on leased property) you might add agritourism and recreation (hiking, biking, camping, hunting, fishing, bird-watching, etc.) on the land you have.

“Managing cash flow is essential; having numerous enterprises can translate into more than one or two paydays annually,” Machen says. “Put a pencil to it. Microsoft Excel® is your best ally. If it doesn’t work on paper, refigure it and proceed cautiously.”

Machen suggests knowing your unit cost of production, or UCOP. What is your cost per hundredweight (cwt.) of weaned calf? What is your cost per pound (lb.) gained?

“Without knowing your costs, you cannot determine profitability,” Machen says.

“Plan your entry strategically. In the current cattle market, the downside risk is greater than the potential for upside reward (the market the last two weeks of October 2025 is proof thereof). The amount of capital to enter during this phase of the cattle cycle is intimidating to both a lender and borrower,” he says.

Stocker cattle typically involve less fixed cost, but effective marketing of both the purchase of cattle and their sale is essential.

“That first cost is often the determinant of profitability,” he says.

Machen says the cow-calf business is a fixed-cost management business, and advises emerging cattlemen to manage fixed costs carefully.

Regarding equipment, he says: “Don’t rent what you can borrow. Don’t buy what you can rent. Don’t buy new if good used is available. If something will sit idle much of the time, you likely don’t need to own it.”

Leasing option

Leasing grazing land and pasturing cattle for someone else is perhaps the lowest fixed cost, low-capital-requirement option; but structure of the lease agreement is critical.

“Without knowledge of the pasture’s potential for supporting growth/gain and knowledge of the cattle’s ability to perform, the beginning stockman must rely on the expertise of a mentor. Weather (soil moisture) is also a huge determinant of success.”

The ever-aging landowners are the people you should make an effort to meet and gain their trust. From personal experience, Machen says that prior to coming to KRIRM, he partnered with a landowner who provided the land, livestock and operating capital.

“I provided expertise and labor for a percentage of the revenue, and that worked for both parties. Sharecropping is another way for a family to keep property while it appreciates in value and enlarges their net worth,” he says.

“Leasing land is the obvious option, but in most regions, leases coming available are a well-kept secret. First-time lessees seldom know they are available until they are not — the lessor has already changed lessees,” says Machen.

Wyoming experience

Sage Askin, Lusk, Wyo., started with a used pickup and trailer and built a multistate livestock operation.

“I couldn’t buy cattle. I talked to a banker, but if you have nothing, they won’t loan money to buy cattle,” he says. “I decided to try to find a ranch to lease, and pay for it by running someone else’s cattle — custom-grazing on rented land.”

His pickup was paid for, so he put it up as collateral for a $17,000 line of credit.

“That loan gave me something to operate on. I hoped to make more money from custom-grazing than my wife and I would pay for pasture. We depended on our stockmanship and grazing management to make it work,” he says.

“I think more ranches are available to lease than 10 years ago,” he observes. “Some people invest in land, but are not actively running it.”

Much of the land available to first-time renters may not be what you want to live on for the rest of your life, and some places take a lot of work to build back up to where they should be. “You’ll have to work harder and do different things to make it work,” Askin says.

“In the Mountain West, if a place was running cow-calf units and you can turn it into a stocker operation, you can generally find stocker-cattle clients and match the animals to the resource better,” he says. You’ll have grass during growing season for stockers and won’t have to buy hay or winter cows.

Relationship skills are important when trying to create a ranching business without land ownership.

“Most of us tend to be introverts and independent and try to go it alone,” Askin says. “The only way to get started is to become good with relationships — which means moving out of our box and becoming comfortable with people. We need the utmost integrity in building relationships and doing what we said we’d do. You’ll have land to operate on if you maintain good relationships.”

Today Askin and his wife operate on a variety of leased and owned properties, and offer custom-grazing services for sheep and goats, as well as cow-calf pairs and stocker cattle. They also develop heifers for other ranchers.

Find a wannabe retiree

Wesley Tucker, field specialist in ag business for the University of Missouri Extension, says leasing ground is one way to start — if a person can find pasture.

“One of the bright spots today is the possibility of finding a rancher who wants to retire,” he says. “I specialize in farm succession and see more and more producers who, even though they have children, don’t have an heir who wants to come back and take over the ranch.”

The older generation doesn’t want their ranch dismantled the day after their funeral, he says. Some are interested in helping a young person get started.

“I’ve had more questions in the past six months, as cattle prices have risen, about cow share agreements — including leasing cows,” Tucker says. “We talk about leasing ground as the entry point for beginning producers, but as more producers get to the age they want to retire, some may be interested in putting cows out on share agreements, if they don’t have an heir who wants to take over.”

Cows can be leased to the younger person, and they share the calf check, he explains. “It takes more communication, however, than just leasing land; you are sharing a living animal that could die. It takes a lot of effort on the part of a young rancher and communication from both parties, but we are seeing more of these situations being able to work.”