Wally Olson says mentors have helped him along the way

meet your neighbors

Learning from Others

By Terry Ropp Wally Olson says the lessons learned from mentors were crucial for his success

Wally Olson was raised by his par- cept was reinforced by Allan Savory’s holistic ents, Willard and Margaret Olson, view, which emphasized working with all you on their cattle ranch in Olsburg, have, not just the obvious. Kan. Willard was Wally’s first mentor, giving Hoss Hopping, another important mentor, his son a deep understanding of the impor- taught Wally the only cow a rancher needs tance of caring for animals. is a “green” or profitable one. The goal is not

“Years ago, when colleges and universi- a particular class of animal but profitability ties switched from a major in husbandry to from the animals. Hoss’ profitability cona major in animal science, I believe animal cept eventually led Wally to understand that health and therefore overall profitability the traditional model of buying and selling generally declined,” Wally said. fosters less profitability due to depreciating

The difference in emphasis is clear when momma cow value. By selling mommas at looking at the definition of husbandry. The peak value and retaining usually more than major definition is caring for, cultivating one heifer per cow before the cow is sold, and breeding crops and animals. The sec- herd value and profitability increase. ondary definition is conservation of resourc- An important part of Wally’s knowledge es. While the same information is taught in gathering was not relying on chance to put animal science, the range of courses and him in touch with high-quality mentors. compartmentalizing of information due to When people such as Bud Williams and the larger volume now necessary means teachers Dallas Mount and David Pratt of each student will have different parts of Ranch Management Consultants came to the information and certainly not the more his attention, he pursued personal relationall-inclusive and united organization that ships that turned into mentorships. One husbandry was able to offer. especially valuable contribution from Dallas

Wally had many mentors through the years. Mount was learning that profitability needs One early on was neighbor Orville Burtis who to be planned using a projection of current helped start the Quar- market prices. If that ter Horse Associa- doesn’t work, Dallas tion. Orville believed in strictly controlling Claremore, Okla. maintains one of three areas or a combination expenses and taught of them is at fault. young Wally to use creativity without These are overheads spending, a process that requires open that are too high, mindedness and flexibility. That con- gross margins per unit too low and insufficient turnover. Identifying the problem leads to the solution. Then Kit Pharo refined the idea by pointing out that the unit should be by acre rather than by head. Walt Davis, an Oklahoma rancher and author filled the role everyone needs, a practical hands-on advisor for the myriads of the hiccups that come with ranching.

Finally, mentor, Jim Gerrish, explained to Wally that the first step toward ranch failure is the fear of wasting grass. He taught Wally a mantra: “Grass feeds the grass, grass feed the soil, then grass can feed livestock so the first priority should be to take good care of the grass.”

“I was fortunate enough to have excellent mentors, and now that I’m retired from hands-on cattle raising, my goal is to be a mentor for others,” Wally said.

The severe agricultural difficulties of the 1980s forced Wally to turn his operation into custom haying. Then he and his wife Doris decided they wanted to raise their children in a rural, ranching environment. All that Wally had learned during the preceding years paid off because he was hired to work as a manager at the well-known Kelley Ranch in Vinita, Okla. Wally believes the new position was his perfect job because the owners believed in education and running the ranch as a business while letting let him manage it. One of the modifications he made was sending one of the ranch hands to learn preg checking.

“Few ranches spend enough money on ed-

Photos by Terry Ropp ucation,” Wally said. “The truth is we saved 10 times more than the class cost by knowing which cows and heifers were pregnant.”

Other modifications included maximizing resources by adding more cows per acre and eliminating the hay production. To compensate, the Kelly Ranch used 38 percent protein cubes made from cottonseed meal and natural fertilization. A time-saving modification was changing the number of pastures so ranch hands had only three stops instead of 22 for feeding and checking cattle.

Eventually, Wally leased the Kelley acreage, later “retiring” from hands on cattle raising in order to mentor others through a 2 1/2 day Livestock Marketing School out of Claremore, Okla., where Wally now lives. Details on the highly-specific livestock marketing school are available on his website and Facebook. Nonetheless, a cattleman to his bones, Wally remains active in the production cattle industry but in a novel, hands-off way.

Wally finds profitable ranches with tightknit, family-oriented owners who are either unwilling or unable to have enough cows to maximize land usage. Wally then purchases cattle that fit into their operation whether cow/calf, stocker or breeding stock in exchange for a monthly fee for land usage and care of his cattle. The system allows him to retain ownership while retaining control of when and where the cattle will be marketed. An example of his sell-buy system is continuing to sell young cows between 3 to 5 years old when they are at their maximum value and subsequently using the profits to keep heifers and expand his net worth.

“If you’re in the business long enough, you learn to have an eye for healthy land, good cattle practices and ranchers who are happy and whose philosophies are compatible with your own,” Wally explained. “This system of using others’ labor and land works well for me.”