HMI is excited to announce that grazing guru Greg Judy will be presenting at the 2016 HMI Gathering in Paicines, California on how to ranch profitably. Greg and his wife, Jan, run a grazing operation on 1520 acres of leased and owned land in Missouri. Greg and Jan went from near bankruptcy in 1999 to paying off a 200-acre farm and house in 3 years with custom grazing on leased land and are completely debt free.
Today they own 3 farms and lease 12 farms. Holistic High Density Planned Grazing is used to graze cows, cow/calf pairs, bred heifers, horses, and stockers. They also own a 300 head grass genetic cow herd, 200 head hair sheep flock and graze heritage breed pigs. They have started direct marketing grass-fed beef, lamb and pork.
Greg is absolutely convinced that there is no better way to get into the grazing business then to lease some fallow land, employ high density grazing and use other people’s livestock to do it. Since switching from Management Intensive Grazing to Holistic High Density Grazing 7 years ago, the results have been breathtaking.
The Judys use no lime, no fertilizer, no seeding, no chemicals, no equipment. They focus solely on increasing animal density, trampling plants to form the litter bank, animal performance and long grass recovery periods between grazing. Plant diversity has exploded along with increased grass quantity each successive year combined with increased profit.
Greg wrote a book in 2001, entitled NO RISK RANCHING, Custom Grazing On Leased Land”, which gives a complete breakdown on the methods they used to build their operation from scratch. In 2008 Greg wrote a second book COMEBACK FARMS, Rejuvenating Soils, Pastures and Profits with Livestock Grazing Management. Greg’s new book covers all the methods they use with Holistic High Density Grazing, multi-species grazing, grass finishing animals, eliminating costly inputs.
Greg has given numerous talks and schools all over the United States on the benefits of Holistic High Density Planned Grazing, leasing land, multi-species grazing, custom grazing and wildlife management. The Judys hold Holistic High Density Grazing Schools at their farms teaching the principles of HHDG. Greg does consultant work for other people interested in setting up HHDG grazing systems. Greg quit his off farm job in 2009 and is now a full-time rancher.
How to Create a Profitable Business – Leasing vs. Owning Land
Greg's presentation will cover all the successes and failures that the Judys have encountered over the years of building a successful profitable grazing operation from leased land. With very limited resources they were able to build a 1500-acre operation, remove all debt and Greg was able to quit his off-farm job. The biggest cost of any grazing operation is the land, remove that cost and you can focus on investing in livestock. By focusing on leasing idle vacant undeveloped land, their operation grew rapidly to 13 farms.
will offer thought-provoking presentations and breakout sessions on various consumer and producer interests. Local food security, land health, strengthening our communities and nourishing our bodies all included! We have something for everyone, so come learn from the experts!