None at this time

I have been in farming or ranching most my life. I have held two jobs outside of the agriculture industry.  My knowledge and heart belong to ranching in particular. My family bought a ranch in 2000 that I went to work on and eventually became ranch manager of. In the end of 2018 I felt it was time for me to move on. Since then I have been working on an organic hay farm. I have started and trained horses for over 20 years and raised cattle for that same amount of time. I have day worked on many ranches and studied what made them work and what their weaknesses were.  I have worked with all types of land and many different types of irrigation from flood to pivots. On my families ranch I took their cattle operation from losing money to actually making money in about 8 years. Also I did a lot of field restoration and rehabilitation. When we started haying on that ranch the first year I put up 20 acres of hay and about .5 ton to the acre to five years later I was around 100 acres and growing and an average of 1 ton to the acre. We already have much equipment needed and some of the livestock needed to get started. Though the livestock is in small amounts of just a few head excluding the chickens we have for laying and hatching. We have around 70 birds of all different breeds.
In all the years I have ranched there is one thing I have taken to heart and that is, ranching, though a lifestyle, also has to be treated like a business. Ranches, like any other business, have to be able to grow and adapt to changes. If they do not then success is less possible.  For this reason my wife and I are thinking outside the box to traditional ranching.
My wife and I have had many discussions on what we would want to do and how we would go about achieving those goals.  What we have come up with is a unique way to ranch and make money. We have been watching and studying the farm to table concept.  We wanted to take this a bit further  to Farm to Table deliveries. We are wanting to raise all types of livestock including Cattle, Pigs, and Chickens. All meat would be raised organic and USDA inspected at butcher time. Also we both are avid gardeners so we would also raise our own produce. People then would be able to call up and request an amount of whatever meats they would want. They could have just pork, or beef or chicken or a combination of all. Also could have fresh produce with their order. We then would put the orders together for the customers and do deliveries once or twice a week depending on where orders were from. To start with we would do deliveries around Oregon, parts of  Washington and Idaho. As the business took ground we would move into shipping produce and meats out. Eventually we would want to buy a building in a small town preferably with good traffic and tourism passing thru to sell our goods out of. This part of the business would be the main support for our ranch. We had done research of people who do this type of thing but just off of Chicken and Lamb.  The demand for good organic farm raised meat and produce is growing rapidly in our health conscious society.  
With this Farm to Table delivery  we also decided we could take that a step further and provide livestock for the "Homesteading" that is starting to happen on smaller acreages. We would be able to provide livestock of all types from again Cows and calves, pigs, and chickens to be delivered or picked up from the farm. As most ranchers want to sell in large quantities we would sell in the smaller quantities. A few years ago when my wife and I had a small number of cattle for sale we noticed that the primary people calling only wanted a couple head to graze on their few acres. They also told us how difficult it was to find someone who would only sell a couple head at  a time. And in the position we were in at that time it wasn't a viable option for us to only sell a couple head. Being able to sell smaller numbers at a time would actually  allow us to charge more per animal and would also allow the buyer to choose which animal they want  and how many. They could have a more personal experience in choosing their homesteading livestock. Also it would be a way of sharing and showing the program and ranch to other people.
To accomplish this we have decided on raising two different breeds of cattle. One would be Dexter. Reason for Dexter are they are a smaller more docile breed of cattle. Perfect for small acreage and beginner raisers. Also Dexter are multi use meaning they can be used for both meat and dairy. A full grown Dexter Cow is about 700- 800 lbs. whereas a full grown commercial beef cow is around 1200-1500 lbs. Dexter's are also very hearty in all weather conditions and areas. The second type of cattle we would raise would be Herefords.  Herefords are an older breed which produce good beef. Herefords are also a calmer disposition cattle and are usually good  grazers. Herefords are also one of the main breeds that people think of for homesteading. They can be registered  and also used for commercial beef.
We would raise both chickens strictly for meat and chickens for egg laying and breeding. Meat chickens is a nine week process from date of acquiring chicks to butcher. This can be done  for as many or as few times needed per year. Chickens for egg layers and breeding can be pretty much a year round deal using the same chickens for multiple years. With the exception of hatching chicks in the winter months.
 Pigs are not personally one of my favorites but there is quite a demand for organic ranch/ farm raised pork.  To start with we would have only a couple sows for breeding.  We also may purchase piglets to grow and butcher. Depending on the breed we may have a field specially for pigs or we may let them free range in certain areas.
As time went on and the business started to grow we may even expand into sheep and goats for meat and green houses to grow more specialized produce like herbs and more delicate vegetables. 
With raising cattle we also want to run a small horse program raising and starting horses. My wife and I are both knowledgeable in the Quarter horse breeding and bloodlines. We have also both trained many horses and sold to happy clientele. Horses are also used to move cattle from pasture to pasture and used to check and ride fence lines. This is also an easy way to get some real practical training on them.
We also want to be in an area where we can be active in the community. Being a part if not only a good church but a part of the whole community is, to us, very important. When my wife and I left the ranch many people in our small community stepped up and helped us where they could. Things would have been much more difficult without their help. We try too and would love to continue to pass forward the care and help we received.
There are many ways and things we can do to cut cost of operation also. Ideally on the right place I would be able to put up our own hay for winter time feeding. Keeping the minimum animals thru the winter is also a big bonus to our program. Chicken tractors that can be easily moved would cut down on the feed for the chickens being raised for meat. Also this provides fertilizer for the fields they are on and allows them to have a more natural organic open range lifestyle. Also this will start out a family run operation and would hopefully evolve into an operation where we could provide employment for a couple people both on the ranch and in our store. 
Funding raised would be used for the purchase of the ranch, and the livestock and equipment needed to start. Also would hopefully cover living expenses while the operation got up and going. Our plan is to be operational and already advertising and selling product within the first year of start up. 
So this is what we are needing funding for, to start and grow a new generation of ranching with the knowledge of old ways and the education and practices to advance ranching into today's markets. I am in the process of finishing a full business plan with projected financials.  Obviously more funding would be welcomed but the amount I stated I feel we could get a good start with and accomplish our start up goals. Thank you for reading and considering our request.