Today's farms/ranches have to be bigger. A recent report by the Univ. of Minnesota ag business school (Gary Hachfeld)did a study on just this question. The study was done in 2007 and covered 850 family farms. Their findings were that the average household and personal expenses for a farm family equated to $74,804. This includes food,clothing, shelter, retirement, personal taxes, tithing, health care, insurance, etc. So, the average farm family of four (actually 3.4 was average) has to net close to $75K to make a modest living as a self employed entity. At first I thought that can't be correct. A family of four, surviving on ranch income, that's me, and we don't need that much. Then I started talking to our book keeper (my wife) and that is actually close to what we need and close to what we bring in from the cows and other misc. income. Now, the kicker for a ranch-only outfit is that this study says to net this amount the average outfit needs 948 cows. That seems crazy at first but looking at the national stats on the national average profit per cow across the board (it often hovers between $50 and $75) and it is in the ball park. This had me thinking no way at first but looking at averages it is right in there. We don't run that many cows (hundreds but not 950), but we also are affiliated with a farm and utilize crop residue ( beet top silage, alfalfa stubble, canola residue, etc) so our feed expenses are not average. I'm sure this study assumed the average place was buying hay for all of their cow's winter needs. A couple years ago, before hay went through the roof, ( hay was around $85/ton) and I figured on feeding for 3.5 months; I figured we could make a viable family business with 300 cows. Back in 1991, when I graduated, I was part of a study with the Univ. of Montana. The U just inheirited a ranch and we were composing a managment plan. Our calculations back then suggested that at least 150 calves had to be produced each year to pay the bills ( as a state owned entity taxes were not part of the equation). So, 150 calves means you need about 180 producing cows to account for your replacement heifers and calf losses. The average herd in Oregon is 40 head. Most ranches in Oregon and in the USA for that matter have one or more of the participants receiving income from outside sources. The typical scenario is the wife works in town and subsidizes the ranch income so the husband can work his hiney off and feel like he is contributing. Statistics say that he is in 1 year out of 7. Have you heard about the rancher who won 10 million in the lottery? When asked what he was going to do with the money he replied, " I'm going to keep ranching until it is all gone."