Farm, Fence, Repeat: A Mississippi Cattleman's Calling
"Go down your own road. Keep your goals to yourself and do exactly what you want to do — you’ll be happy with the results,” says Logan Yancey, first-generation cattle rancher and business owner near Ripley, Miss.
At the ripe age of 11, Yancey discovered his love of farming, which turned into a working relationship with a local farmer through his early years.
He recalls driving a tractor around the county, “I thought I was on top of the world,” he says.
Yet, Yancey’s dreams of farming were more than an arm’s length away. He didn’t grow up on a farm; however, his family owned farm ground in operation by others outside the family.
Going After It
As a step inside the door, and a way to help pay bills in college, Yancey started his own fencing business, which has now grown to include four full-time employees, building around 100,000 linear feet of agricultural fence each year.
Meanwhile, Yancey stepped into the cattle business, buying his first cows in high school. However, the herd came and went as Yancey found it hard to keep cattle while attending college. Since graduating from Mississippi State University, Yancey’s cowherd of 11 head has grown to 70 cow-calf pairs. These include both a spring- and fall-calving cowherd of commercial Brangus cows bred to registered black Hereford bulls.
As Yancey looks to continue growing his farm operation, he notes that the fencing business has been a valuable piece of the puzzle.
Working under one limited liability company (LLC), Yancey is able to use his fencing equipment on his own farm, which helps justify having the equipment — tractors, trailers, etc. — and employees that help with fencing and the cow-calf operation.
Currently, at the age of 28, Yancey rents his family’s farm ground and looks to continue increasing in size, acquiring more ground and cattle, and upgrading equipment.
Not Without Challenges
“Everybody wants to work on a farm until it’s time to work on the farm,” Yancey notes.
Finding help, even with top-of-the line equipment, has been Yancey’s greatest challenge in recent years. Additionally, his age adds another unique barrier.
“I’m 28. It’s harder for me to go hire somebody that’s experienced or that’s fenced before, because they aren’t going to want to work for somebody that’s a lot younger than they are.”
Regardless of age, when it comes to managing employees, Yancey advises, “Always treat employees the same way you would want to be treated. You have to realize that they don’t know everything the day they come to the job, so you need to take the time to train them to do it how you want it done. They can’t read
your mind.”
For the fencing business, quality is extremely important — making sure customers get exactly what they pay for — and he holds his employees to high standards. In return, employees who stay long term are treated well through insurance and retirement incentives.
Mailbox Motivation
“We’re not out here just to make a dollar off somebody,” Yancey notes. “I answer a lot of questions about livestock and try to help them. If someone has a sick cow while we’re there fencing, I go help doctor it. I try to be a helping hand as much as I can be to them.”
Aside from the 80+ hours Yancey puts into his businesses each week, he also gives back to his community in service as the Young Farmer Chair for the local Farm Bureau and as part of the board of directors for his local fire department. While his current business has taken him around 10 years to build, he says it’s all been worth it.
“I did everything exactly how I wanted to do it, and I’m 100% satisfied with the results. I get up every day excited to go to work. I don’t dread it. On the days that don’t work out on the fence line, I can always go back to the farm," Yancey explains.
As one of the youngest farmers in his community, Yancey says it’s hard to make it farming, especially when starting from scratch.
“You’ve got to fight for it. There isn’t anything easy about it. You’ve got to stick with it,” he says.
