This week, Shaye is joined by Jonathon Haralson of Your Ag Empire about building resilient, multi-generation agricultural operations. Haralson defines an “Ag Empire” as the dreams rural families pursue across cattle, row crops, and related businesses, then shares his background in Texas production agriculture and commodity risk management.

He explains Empire Ag’s work as business strategy support, improving recordkeeping, restructuring debt to match cash flow, and helping producers identify hidden business “holes” and emphasizes that sustainable success rests on strengthening body, mind, and spirit through preparation, nutrition, activity, gratitude, and belief in something bigger.

He outlines Empire Ag’s strategy, accounting, branding (including direct-to-consumer), and lending arm (EA Capital). They discuss growth versus optimization, opportunities from transitions, and the importance of family communication in succession planning, ending with Jonathon’s key takeaway on dropping the ego and aligning on your vision and mission.

• Learn more about Your Ag Empire here: https://youragempire.com/
• Learn more about the Noble Research Institute here: https://www.noble.org/find-a-course/
• Learn more about Elanco here: https://farmanimal.elanco.com/us/beef
• Learn more about Vence here: https://bit.ly/4kfWrCG
• Learn more about AtTheYards here: https://bit.ly/400T7mF

Catch more conversations like this one and learn more at https://www.casualcattleconversations.com/

01:25 What Does Building an Ag Empire Look Like

02:43 Jonathon’s Ag Journey

05:19 How Empire Ag Helps

07:28 Body Mind Spirit Framework

11:05 Busy Season Body Tips

15:08 Mindset Under Pressure

18:14 Spirituality and Purpose

19:44 Financial Levers and Lending

25:01 Growth vs Optimization

26:56 Opportunities for Young Producers

32:21 Succession and Family Communication

Today, Shaye Wanner interviews Donovan Wagner of Wagner Financial Services about why ranchers should invest during strong cattle markets instead of putting all equity back into land, equipment, and cattle. Wagner emphasizes planning for retirement, health events, and farm/ranch transition challenges, especially balancing inheritances among on-farm and off-farm children and avoiding family conflict.

He discusses tools including life insurance (including second-to-die and riders that can provide funds for long-term care needs), SEPs for larger deductible contributions (noting complications with employees), traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs for lower tax brackets, and HSAs for deductible medical expenses. Wagner stresses asking advisors about experience, fees, and coordination with CPAs and attorneys, keeping wills updated, using goal-based planning, and starting systematic contributions, even a small monthly amount, to benefit from compounding.

Learn more about the Noble Research Institute here: https://www.noble.org/find-a-course/

Learn more about Elanco here: https://farmanimal.elanco.com/us/beef

Learn more about Vence here: https://bit.ly/4kfWrCG

Learn more about AtTheYards here: https://bit.ly/400T7mF

Catch more conversations like this one and learn more at https://www.casualcattleconversations.com/

• 00:00 Why Invest Now

• 01:03 Meet Donovan Wagner

• 02:17 Equity Traps and Succession

• 05:04 Fair Is Not Equal

• 06:17 Life Insurance for Heirs

• 09:34 Pay Yourself Systematically

• 10:27 SEP and Roth Basics

• 13:32 Traditional IRA and Employees

• 15:19 Health Planning and HSAs

• 16:38 Long Term Care Options

• 21:15 Retirement Goals and Software

• 23:18 Avoiding Common Mistakes

• 26:10 Starting Young and Compounding

Today on the Cattle Convos Podcast, Shaye Wanner interviews Shannon Emley, from Ambrook, about managerial accounting for ranchers. Shannon contrasts technical accounting for taxes and lenders with managerial accounting focused on clarity for business decision-making, emphasizing that clean, up-to-date books and properly categorized transactions are the foundation.

He explains how producers can analyze profitability by enterprise (cow-calf, stockers, custom grazing, hay), reduce emotion in decisions, and evaluate choices like grow-versus-buy feed, raise-versus-buy calves, or own-versus-hire equipment by capturing full costs including labor, fuel, and repairs.

Something he notes that makes Ambrook unique is that it can track sub-enterprises, locations, and metrics like profit per acre or per head, even down to individual cows using projects, plus inventory and timing of feed use. Emley recommends starting small, spending about 10 minutes weekly, and using the last 12 months’ P&L to forecast cash, including loan and equipment payments.

Learn more and try Ambrook at: ambrook.com/casualcattle

More links and resources from this episode:

• Learn more about the Noble Research Institute here: https://www.noble.org/find-a-course/
• Learn more about Elanco here: https://farmanimal.elanco.com/us/beef
• Learn more about Vence here: https://bit.ly/4kfWrCG
• Learn more about AtTheYards here: https://bit.ly/400T7mF

Catch more conversations like this one and learn more at https://www.casualcattleconversations.com/

00:00 Big Decisions Made Easier

00:59 Meet Shannon Emley

02:22 Managerial Accounting Basics

03:29 Clean Books First

04:27 Enterprise Profitability

06:12 Grow Versus Buy

09:03 Start With Key Questions

10:17 Going Deeper With Tracking

13:30 Forecasting Cash Flow

15:10 Simple Weekly Habit

17:35 How to Try Ambrook