"Family" and "Brothers" Ranch

There’s an old joke that any ranch with the word “brothers” in the name is only biding its time until a dispersal sale.

It's not really a joke as much as it's a prophecy.

There was a time when I really liked working with my brother.  We were the type didn't talk much in the pens, it was more of a grunt and a nod type communication that anybody who works cattle together a while understands.

Eventually, as is natural, things changed.  I know when things changed, it's so common that it’s almost a cliché as far as partnerships go.  I know where I was when I realized it wasn’t going to work long term, even if I continued to live in denial.  It was another 18 months before I finally walked out but after you lose a certain type of trust with somebody all of those little differences that used to be afterthoughts become tiny little cuts that build up over time.

Back in December, there was a weekend when I couldn’t sleep because I was so mad about stuff that had happened over the previous week.  Nothing unethical or mean spirited just oversights like not reading the donor shot instructions all the way through, losing a calf because somebody slept in, a text message that shouldn’t have been shared, etc.  

I got way too pissed about it.

I’m not justifying that anger; I have no right to be mad about it.

It was more my immaturity showing through than any justification for a temper tantrum.

They had just as much of a right to do things their way as I did to do things my way.

If I wanted things to get done with attention to details or wanted to make sure a calving cow was checked before noon, I should have been the one doing it.  I don't live at the ranch though, primarily for the reasons mentioned yesterday, and I wasn't the one doing it.

Beyond that there were just too many things we had different ideas on; the type of cattle we were raising, what does and does not get stored in the barn, how to price cattle, the difference between a good and a bad picture, how those pictures are described, marketing, etc.

I spent quite a bit of time building customer relationships over the years, mainly just because I really liked our customers as people, and could be more than a bit protective of how that aspect of things was handled.  You read this site, you can guess how rationally and calmly I take being told what we need to do to sell cattle by somebody who doesn't do the selling.

I couldn’t lead my way out of the differences either.  It's a character flaw on my part, I'm nowhere near as good a leader as FFA told me I should become 20 years ago.  Hell, I wasn’t able to get everyone on the same page regarding something as simple and seemingly common sense as which direction the gate is supposed to be opened when you are moving cattle.

I finally accepted reality when I found out somebody we’ve sold calves to for quite some time didn’t want to come to the place again because of some careless words.  It was finally clear to me that what I wanted was not what I was going to be taking part in.

I wasn't angry this time, I was sad in the way you get when you realize a beloved dog that has lived a full life needs to be put down.

Splitting things up was not a realistic option, cattle operations have a minimal size where they still make sense and we were pushing that as it was.

With that in mind, regardless of how the herd was built, my bother lives there, I don’t, it was time for me to move on.

If I was going to run cattle, it wasn't going to be there...