There are few agricultural activities more exciting these days than being able to make and sell your very own gourmet 100 percent grass-fed beef.

Likewise, there are few agricultural activities that can be as frustrating to learn. Mistakes with animals on this scale can be large and devastating so it’s not only important to plan ahead, but perhaps even more important to avoid the mistakes others have made.

Demand for grass-fed beef continues to rise, whereas the feedlot beef industry is stagnant. When you attend a conference these days, the packed classrooms are the ones explaining grass-fed beef production.

Getting off on the right foot is important. It’s a common mistake to assume that one can merely throw some mediocre sale barn cattle onto old worn-out row crop land and come back in a year or two to find glistening happy cattle that are fully fattened and ready to go to town. I’m not saying that it can’t be done, just that it’s not very likely to work that way.