It can be a hard choice when selecting a cattle ranch for sale because in your own area there may not be many to pick from, but now with online agents who list cattle ranches for sale across several states including Texas, New Mexico and Nevada you can see a lot more options within your budget. So the next thing to consider is what exactly do you want from your cattle ranch?
Options When Choosing a Cattle Ranch For Sale
The first choice of course you need to make is whether you will be managing the ranch yourself or just living on the land and renting out the ranch for someone else to manage. If you just intend on living there and renting out the land then you are best finding a ranch which already has a sitting tenant who is keen to stay on, this will keep the income going, as it can be very hard to find a new rancher.
Alternatively you may want to oversee the ranch but have a ranch manager in place who runs the business and the employees for you, this of course is a good option, because you won’t need much knowledge of cattle ranching at first and can learn as you go along. You shouldn’t have a problem hiring an experienced rancher, just find one with good references who has some experience supervising the head of cattle and number of employees that you have on your ranch.
As well as cattle ranching it is an option to develop a ranch which is also a vacation destination. People pay good money to stay on a working ranch and ride out with the cowboys experiencing a heritage lifestyle their forefathers lived. Foreign visitors to the states will also pay for a similar experience. So this could be a very good option for extra income at your ranch, but investment will be required in accommodation, transport, horses and handlers who can cope with amateurs, and also staff for cleaning, cooking and general maintenance of the property. A working cattle ranch used for vacationing has to look a bit smarter and tidier than a real cattle ranch for commercial use.
Something that some ranch owners are now doing is apportioning off their larger ranches to rent out smaller ranch lots to several ranchers. Many ranchers who have worked other people’s herds and land for decades want some independence and to make their own money from their skills but cannot afford to buy land themselves, so many are now renting out mini ranches. This can be lucrative, especially if you can provide extra services for the ranches like buying feed wholesale.
Additional some ranches are now mixed ranches carrying cattle, horses and other livestock, as well as farming crops, vegetables and fruits, even vineyards. A mixed ranch can often be more profitable and is good use of the amount of land on the ranch but you do need to invest in good fencing to separate stock from crop.