Ranch Vision is a new computer-simulation program that helps ranchers manage their grazing livestock operations for maximum profitability. Ranchers can examine different production scenarios and ask questions to guide management decisions.
"They can see how things are likely to play out," said Rich Brazil, a Mendocino County veterinarian and ranch management consultant who developed the program. "It creates a simulation of a user's operation and projects the results of management decisions months and years into the future."
He owns Advanced Veterinary Services, a large animal practice in Potter Valley, along with his wife, Erin, who is also a veterinarian.
Ranch Vision is specifically designed for cattle, sheep and goat producers. It allows them to analyze up to 18 different enterprises simultaneously.
Ranchers can use the Windows-based program to find solutions to their unique problems. The program is user-friendly, and it includes a tutorial that walks a person through a sample ranch.
Ranch Vision helps ranchers increase their bottom line by identifying variables that affect their profits and losses, and by showing how management decisions affect cash flow. "You can change your management decisions and see how those changes will impact you along the way."
When Brazil began ranch consulting about seven years ago, he looked around for computer applications that could help ranchers. He found that most programs relied on past production records, so producers had to spend alot of time entering data.
Unlike previous programs Ranch Vision does not rely on detailed production records. Instead, this new program asks questions that are relevant to the particular type of ranch, such as a cow-calf operation. It identifies specific things that affect enterprise efficiency, like the grazing demands of the livestock. Ranch Vision allows producers to examine "what if" scenarios and changing conditions such as drought. Ultimately, it allows ranchers to do cost benefit analyses and figure profit and losses in advance.
Ranch Vision allows producers to input other enterprises, such as cropping systems, equestrian pursuits or hunting clubs. "That is all included in the analysis," Brazil said. "Ranch Vision allows you to break your ranch into profit-generating centers called enterprises. You can then see which are contributing to overall ranch profit and which are not."
The program is so useful that it has been incorporated into coursework at various universities, including Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, California State University, Fresno and West Hills College in Coalinga.
"Today growers are looking for alternatives to use their land for, and this program allows them to do that," said Mike Hall, animal science professor at Cal Poly who uses Ranch Vision in his Commercial Beef Management course. "It's extremely easy to use. A rancher inputs the costs - it doesn't require records. It has a menu, charts and graphs. It simulates ideas in order to maximize profits through enterprise analysis."
Numerous industries uses computer simulation programs to create models of their businesses and predict events. With Ranch Vision, producers can create replicas of their ranches and manipulate them to foresee the future.
Ranching is a complex business, and with so many variables, it can be challenging to make sound decisions. Ranch Vision is a tool specifically designed to help grazing livestock producers make informed management decisions, in order to maximize efficiency and boost profits.
Ranch Vision is available from Advanced Veterinary Services, Box 437, Potter Valley, CA 95469, or call (707) 462-0408. In addition, a demonstration of the demo program can be downloaded from the Internet. The Web site is www.ranchvision.com.
Western Livestock Journal, Nov. issue
Progressive Farmer Magazine, Feb. issue
Ag Alert, April 2, 1997 issue
