Lease land and custom-graze cattle. Using long-term leases to build pasture and put gains on cattle has this couple in high demand. It all hinges on management-intensive grazing.

Greg and Jan Judy don't like to invest in things that rust or depreciate. In fact, they'd just as soon not own land if they can gain the use of it some other way.

That may seem to be an odd attitude for people who graze upwards of 1,000 cattle each year. But the Judys have much the same idea about livestock: Why own cattle if you can earn a good income by growing someone else's?

"We graze more than 2,000 acres in 12 different farms owned by seven different landlords," said Greg Judy. "This system gives a guy with limited financial resources a way to get into the cattle business. Since 1996, we have bought and paid for a 240-acre farm and started our own cow herd."

"We graze cows, steers, heifers, whatever--even horses--on a custom basis," added Jan Judy. "We watch the cattle cycle and cater our services to fit whoever needs what we offer."

All the land the Judys manage is located within a 3-mile radius of their home place in northern Boone County, Mo. The couple uses management-intensive grazing (MiG) throughout.

"Finding land to lease hasn't been a problem," said Greg. "In fact, we have turned down land, because it isn't located right or doesn't suit what we do. When I approach a landowner about renting his place, I like to take him on a tour of land we've managed for a while. Most of the land we lease is owned by business or professional people, primarily for recreation. The way we treat the land actually improves it for those purposes."

When he approaches a landowner about renting the property, Greg Judy practices diplomacy that would make career State Department officials envious.

"I don't act like a know-it-all, and I don't run down the guy's place," he said. "I explain MiG and how it works; how it could improve his land. If he has the time, I like to take him on a tour of land we have managed for a while. I don't talk rental rates or lease terms until we have come to some level of understanding on the management of his land.

"But I will not lease a place for less than 6 years," he continued. "I want control of the land for long enough that I can put it into productive shape and utilize it for a while."

Judy's rents range from about $2 per acre per year to nearly $20 per acre. The average rental is closer to $5 per acre per year. After he saw Judy's handiwork in evidence, one landlord began refunding all of the rent. All leases are in writing and in considerable detail as to the responsibilities of both parties.

"When we first lease a place, it often doesn't have good fences or good water," said Greg. "Some of it is worn-out former cropland that now is overgrown with cedars, multiflora rose and broomsedge."

"We do a lot of work on a place," said Jan. "We usually can turn a place around in 2 years. It's rewarding to take a marginal piece of land and turn it into a productive unit."

The Judys use high-tensile "hot wire" fencing throughout, even for perimeter fences. When they take over a farm, they fence the ponds, fence cattle away from timber and fence a buffer strip along any streams. Their system qualifies them with the Boone County Soil and Water Conservation District for the DSP-3 conservation practice, which provides cost-share for water development, fencing, pasture improvement and other management features.

"Once we get water developed and put fences in, we take soil tests and get the lime and soil fertility in shape," said Greg. "With our management system, it's relatively easy from there on. With MiG, little soil fertility is lost, because the manure stays on the land and is well dispersed over the land."

While they will custom graze about any kind of animal, the Judys prefer stocker cattle, grazed on a gains-made basis.

"Stockers are more work but they make more money, if you keep them gaining," said Greg. "We get a weigh ticket when the cattle come aboard the place and we weigh them when they leave. We get paid for the difference."

The Judys charge 32 cents per pound gained for stocker cattle. The owner supplies salt, mineral and any medication required; the Judys move mineral feeders when they move cattle to a new grazing paddock.

"We like for stockers to gain at least 200 pounds per head for the grazing season," Greg explained. "That means an average daily gain of 1.3 pounds or more. But that's not hard to maintain if you know how to grow and manage grass. We have a lot of cowmen clients who let us grow their steers. That way, it frees up more of their resources so they can run more cows. If you know how to grow grass and manage cattle, finding the cattle to custom graze is no problem."

Greg and Jan also winter cows on stockpiled grass, at a per-head-per-month charge.

"We haven't fed any hay yet," said Jan Judy, in early February. "Leasing land gives us a chance to be flexible with our management; we control enough land so that we can stockpile fescue in the fall."

"In fact, we usually start with a new place by wintering cattle there," said Greg. "We buy hay (we cannot afford to grow hay) and unroll the bales on areas where the soil needs some tilth and fertility. We use poly-wire fencing where we feed hay. The cattle spread out the manure and trample it into the soil. Then, in late winter, we come in with a broadcast seeder on an ATV and seed red clover over the top. We keep legumes in all of our pastures."

Their system requires that the Judys see the cattle at least every other day.

"We don't do the Columbus system, where I turn cattle out in the spring and go discover them in the fall," said Greg. "We want to see cattle on a regular basis. For one thing, that lets us catch any breaking health trouble before real problems develop."