A Business Plan for Grass

Grazing plans sometimes get a bad rap. Most of the time it seems like the conversation around grazing plans is its importance to grass and livestock. However, this article is different. This time we are comparing grazing plans to business plans and market plans.

When I judge the FFA Market Plan CDE at John Deere Ag Expo, the advice I give the students to write the budget first, because a complete budget tells them exactly what areas of the business they need to focus their time and energy on. Depending on which role I play as the judge, a banker or business owner, the students that have a clear understanding of the areas that need work greatly helps them in their success in getting the loan or getting their business proposal accepted. The weak areas in their budget dictate how they write the market plan. And just with the kids, I suggest you write your grass budget before you write your business plan. You may be surprised what it has to say.

Two important parts of a market plan are market research and target market. It is everything the business needs to know about the market and a business’s customers from the direction of the market to a customer’s Saturday night spending habits. It is all the information in which a market plan needs in order to be successful. A portion of a grazing plan has its own market research and target market section and they answer questions like: Where is reliable water? How much forage is in each pasture? What hazardous plants are present and when? Doing an intensive range inventory will answer these questions and make planning rotations easier.

Business plans have a section called strategy and implementation. Some businesses include their market plan in this section. The section explains the business’s marketing and sales strategies. Market plans have a similar section called market strategy. These sections are important because it is the business’s plan on how it’s going to meet its goals. A grazing plan needs goals and a plan on how to implement them.

A grazing plan’s goals need to be clear, concise, measurable, achievable, and realistic. Just like every other goal a person makes in their life. This is why monitoring is important. Monitoring is like taking your pulse but for your grass. Without the information gathered from monitoring, one cannot change one’s strategy to meet one’s goals. It’s the same with going to the doctor. You can’t tell if you are you are meeting your health goals if you aren’t taking the time to get the necessary measurements.

Speaking a changing one’s strategy, an important aspect of a grazing plan is it is not set in stone. Anybody who has experienced a major life hiccup understands that life doesn’t go according to plan. Sometimes goals change, Mother Nature throws in a monkey wrench, or fate proves to be unkind. A good grazer needs to be willing to adapt.

A grazing plan is like going to college. You may start out majoring in elementary education but end graduating with a degree animal science. You start out with Plan A but end up using Plans B, C, and D instead, but you still started out with plan.

If you do not know where to begin in designing a grazing plan, conducting a range inventory, or writing a grass budget, you can contact Montana Rangelands Partnership. The Partnership team is happy to work with you at whatever level you are comfortable with and it is free.