Creating a Cattle Company From Scratch Part 3.
Starting Giblin Cattle Co.: Custom Grazing & Building from Scratch
Hey everyone, Cooper here! For those of you who don’t know me, I’m in the middle of building my cattle company—Giblin Cattle Co.—from the ground up. Right now, I’m a second-year apprentice at a dairy farm in Maine, going through the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship (DGA) program. I currently own three beef cows, and I’m documenting my journey as I figure out how to build a sustainable cattle business from scratch.
The Custom Grazing Model
My business is built around an approach called custom grazing, a concept I learned from Greg Judy’s book No-Risk Ranching. Instead of taking on massive debt to buy land, equipment, and animals, custom grazing allows me to lease land, set it up for rotational grazing, and take care of other people’s cattle for a fee. It’s a low-risk way to build a business while improving pastures and cash-flowing my own herd over time.
This method makes a lot of sense, especially for someone like me who’s just getting started. Buying a farm outright isn’t feasible at this point, but if I can lease land, run cattle, and build my herd slowly, I’ll be in a much stronger position down the line. Plus, if things don’t work out, I’m not stuck with a mortgage I can’t pay.
Securing Pasture & Setting Up for Summer
The big news: I’ve secured 16.6 to 20 acres of pasture to graze this summer! It’s a historic piece of farmland that’s been mowed, but it still needs improvement. The soil pH is around 5.5, which isn’t ideal for legumes like clover that help fix nitrogen and boost forage quality. Ideally, I’d have applied lime in the fall, but since I just locked this in during December, I’ll be improving the pasture gradually with grazing.
I’ll be running three cows and four sheep on the land, using temporary fencing to keep costs low. Some might say I should install permanent fencing, but since this is a trial period, I’d rather stay flexible. I’m going with:
✔️ Single-strand polywire
✔️ Fiberglass posts from Ken Cove
✔️ A Gallagher S20 solar charger
The fencing supplies are on order, and I’ll be training my animals to respect the hot wire over the next couple of months. That’s critical—if they don’t respect the fence, rotational grazing becomes a nightmare.
Legal Steps & Finding an Attorney
Another big step: I’m finalizing the lease agreement with the landowner. If you’re starting something like this, my biggest advice is have a written lease, no matter what. Even if you trust the landowner completely, having a contract protects both of you. Worst-case scenario, it gives you time to relocate your animals if things change.
I used ChatGPT to draft a basic lease and then had it reviewed by an attorney. I initially applied for free legal assistance through Legal Food Hub, but their wait time was 4-6 weeks. Instead, I reached out directly to attorneys on their referral list and was lucky enough to find one who agreed to review my lease pro bono. If you need legal help, it never hurts to ask!
Website Progress
On the tech side, my cousin has been doing an awesome job building the Giblin Cattle Co. website. We’re using Squarespace because it’s way easier than WordPress, and the goal is to create a professional landing page where people can learn about the business, sign up for a newsletter, and eventually connect with me about cattle. It’s coming together nicely!
What’s Next?
In the next couple of months, I’ll be:
✅ Training my cows to respect the electric fence
✅ Finalizing my lease agreement
✅ Setting up fencing and water systems on the new pasture
✅ Continuing to improve the website
I’m excited to take these next steps and appreciate everyone who’s following along. If you’re interested in custom grazing, rotational grazing, or starting a cattle business, I highly recommend checking out Greg Judy’s book No-Risk Ranching!
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more updates.
– Cooper