It’s obviously been a while since the last update to this blog. The events surrounding the last blog post essentially rocked our world and quite honestly found us in a very low spot at times even wondering if we should continue down this road of trying to build a family cattle business. After those events, we found it necessary to just keep plugging away and keep a somewhat lower profile while just “doing what we do”. The good news is, although we still have our challenges, things are looking up.

First of all, the challenges of building a business from the ground up always comes with some big challenges. A family cattle business is certainly no exception and actually brings with it even more challenges. As you may or may not be aware, the process of raising cattle takes a fair amount of resources and capital. It takes property, equipment, and inputs such as feed. Often, when families have been in the farming business, those assets are more readily available. Most generally these items and others are either passed on from one generation to the next or even if that is not the case, they are often shared between family members. When you are essentially starting from the bottom, it brings some unique challenges.

Although there is plenty production farming in our family background, our families have either gotten out of the business at some point, or are far enough away that the sharing of resources is not practical. This means we often have to get a little creative in how we get things done. It has also meant some significant investment of personal capital to help make this work. We have also had to rely on the generosity and help from those around us that have been willing to help. Quite honestly we can’t say enough about those that have been willing to help in so many ways.

Often when someone is building a business, you keep plugging away and at times you take a step back and put what you’ve managed to accomplish thus far in perspective. We aren’t any different in that regard. Sometimes it takes a “wow” from someone else to realize that perhaps we are making progress in growing the business. Yes, in the grand scheme of things Janssen Cattle Company is still very small, but continues to build. This growth is often limited these days by the personal capital available as well as the time available for investment due to full time jobs.

This season in our lives and this season of the year, we are so thankful for all the wonderful blessings we have. The availability of capital to invest in this passion, the wonderful support from so many around us as well as the businesses that do what they can to support us as well as our buyers of both live cattle and processed cattle. Thank you for helping us support our passion.