7th generation rancher ditches protein block and saves 22% on feed
We started calculating it out and getting the numbers from our historical feeding costs, and we figured it saved us 22%. That paid for the Riomax. That paid the bill in the difference. My name is Heber Finlinson. I'm from Oak City, Utah. My kids are seventh generation, and I've been doing it my whole life. The products that I was feeding, it just seemed like it was it was expensive. And I tried several different things and I I don't know if I could ever see a difference except for in my checkbook. I could always see that difference, but I could never see it with the cows. At the time, I was complaining to a a friend of mine and he asked me if I'd had heard of the product, the Riomax product, and actually I hadn't. So I looked into it, he sent me over Twain's number, and I just called him on the spot, and I said, Walk me through your product. This is what I'm doing. And everything that he said just made sense. I split a load with Leon and we started this journey together. The high protein block that I was feeding when I made the switch, the cost wasn't that much different. It was not as expensive per ton as the Riomax, but they were eating I had a record. They were eating over a pound, pound and a half a day. When he guaranteed consumption at at a third of a pound, I knew it wasn't you know, it wouldn't cost that much more. And it hasn't. It hasn't. And then they've always stayed, you know, within a quarter usually of a pound per head per day. Per cow, it's the same money. It's hard enough in this industry, and we have challenges every day. But if we can increase our own resources that we've already got and and take advantage of that, and then, you know, maybe we'll make it. I don't know. There's a lot to leaving a legacy. You know, you get your kids involved. This year, my kids are all pretty young. And this year was the first year that I was able to go move a herd of cows over the top of a mountain for four miles. And I had me and my my four kids. And and my youngest is five years old, and he was just the horse and just having the time of his life. And before that, I always either had, you know, an adult with me or, you know, a brother or a nephew or somebody. And it it meant a lot just to have my kids and and that legacy, and, you know, that's part of it. That's ranching. That's farming. My my grandpa used to say he was in the livestock business and he always said, if you take care of your livestock, they'll take care of you. And so I've always I've always remembered that and it's always been kind of a journey to try to create that. I'm I'm coming closer with Rio than I've ever come before.
Fast Facts
- 22% saved against historical feeding costs
- Savings paid for the Riomax
- Costs him the same per cow as his old protein block, even though it looks more expensive upfront
- Seventh-generation ranch family
Heber Finlinson has been ranching around Oak City, Utah, his whole life, and his kids are the seventh generation. Supplements always seemed expensive, and after trying several different products, the only difference he could ever see was in his checkbook. He was complaining about it to a friend when he first heard about Riomax. He got Twain's number, called on the spot, and asked to be walked through the product. Everything made sense, so he split a load with Leon and they started together.
His old high protein block cost less per ton than Riomax, but his records showed cows eating over a pound to a pound and a half a day. With Riomax consumption guaranteed at a third of a pound, Heber figured it wouldn't cost much more per cow, and it hasn't. When he ran the numbers against his historical feeding costs, he found a 22% savings, enough to pay for the Riomax.
For Heber, getting more out of the resources he already has is part of leaving a legacy. This year he moved a herd four miles over a mountain with just his four kids, the youngest five years old. His grandpa always said that if you take care of your livestock, they'll take care of you, and Heber says he's coming closer to that with Rio than he ever has.
Open cows, pounds you don't wean, sickness, or forage that goes out the back end don't make you money, do they?
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15-30% forage & hay savings with Riomax
Riomax® is revolutionizing the way ranchers deal with high input costs. With better digestion, your herd can get all the nutrients they need from less grass. This leaves you with more days on grass (you start feeding later in the fall), less stress, and a more padded pocketbook.
Seen a lot of savings on our on our pastures. Generally, figure about five and a half to six acres of pair around through here. We've been even last year through the drought of that we had of twenty twenty, we did four and a half acres of pair on on ours, still had adequate grass left. Cattle came off in good condition. They weren't weren't malnutritioned, weren't low body scores. Been running pretty consistent, six body score better on everything. We're paying right around fifty dollar an acre cash rent up here is kinda kind of a common thing. You can knock out an acre here off of every cow that that saves a lot of money. Mean, fifty fifty bucks and you don't need four hundred another four hundred acres. It's another twenty thousand. So all of a sudden you got forty forty five thousand dollars in your pocket and you still have all the extra added benefits through the mineral, the health benefits of it. And it really saved on the last year too with the drought. We didn't think we'd get through. We put the same amount of number in the pastures and it didn't rain. We pulled it out and we still had old grass in the pasture. I didn't know the tub saved that whole deal. We had stretched it a lot because there was a lot of people selling cows and we didn't sell anything and we didn't pull them out early. And this year, most of the pastures around here are pretty much nothing. And we drove through everything. We still got, you know, shoots of grass and tufts of grass all over the place. Not a lot, but it we kept them. It made a huge difference. As far as paying for itself, you know, you got to feed and you start saving instead of a lot of guys are up to forty five, fifty five pounds. It was figured somewhere in there a big cow and even when they had the calf on them sixty pounds. So if you're feeding thirty pounds, yeah, it's gonna easily pay for itself without you see a bit. I mean, we, you can see it on the cow calf pairs too, bigger calves. We calve in May, June, and we're weaving seven hundred and some pound calves off of Dallas. So it makes, yeah, we can see the difference really easy. You just go through each step and see We're running more cows than we used to run on the same acres. That is a big deal. Because I used to on on my pastures, they're not big pastures, but on my pastures, I used to run twenty five head and they would have it grazed down to nothing in five months easy. Now I can run thirty, thirty five on the same pastures, and they can stay there another month longer easy on any given year. And this year, they got to stay two months longer, and there's still grass left over. Well, yeah, it's high priced, but it's like if if you can afford or not. But I think you can afford it because you cannot afford not to feed it because you can get your cattle to market faster. They're healthier. You could run more cattle on your land or you can stay there longer before you have to move on to an another patch. The cows are way healthier. They're way more content. They're happy. They're happy cows.
RANCHING AIN'T EASY.
FOR ALL THE WORK THAT YOU DO, YOU DESERVE
MORE IN RETURN.
15 - 30% FORAGE SAVINGS
3 - 10% INCREASE IN CONCEPTION RATES
10 - 40 LBS. INCREASE IN WEANING WEIGHTS
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"We've been able to save enough hay with Riomax and we're increasing our production with Rhyzogreen. Both of those products have made it possible for us to have the confidence in knowing we're gonna be just fine.
Dan Reinke
Sheridan, WY
"I think it's a pretty cheap way to get way more out of your soil than what we do weithout. More out of what they eat, so they eat less, and Rhyzogreen gives them more grass."
Shane Keller
Valentine, NE
"...It's a win-win. You're attacking it on both fronts and you're nailing it on both fronts, so it's kind of a no-brainer. Why wouldn't you do both (Riomax and Rhyzogreen) at the same time?"
Bradley Franke
Cross Plains, TX
"I saw increased yields on every field I treated, every one...The worst yield increase was 17% up to 85%."
Todd Farrington
Collbran, CO
“The ground I sprayed versus the ground I didn’t was about 3 bales to the acre difference... $300/acre value. The product has more than paid for itself. This is something we’ll continue to do. It speaks for itself.”
Jim Lambert
Whitney, NE
“Went from 40 acres/cow in this drought to 30 acres/ cow . . . that’s $70/ cow/year!“
Raymond Rivale
Des Moines, NM
"My disease in my calves has went down tremendously, and I attribute it to Riomax. That's the only thing I changed."
Leon Mcelprang
Huntington, UT
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ENJOY ONGOING SUPPORT
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Reach out & let’s talk about your ranch
Help us understand the needs of your ranch & the challenges you face. Then we’ll crunch the numbers to see if Riomax is a fit for your ranch.
FIND THE RIGHT NUTRITION PROGRAM
Get a program that fits your needs and pays for itself. Shipped direct or through our dealer network.
ENJOY ONGOING SUPPORT
Our herd health guides and network of dealers are here to ensure Riomax® is paying for itself.
In this video, we'll cover...
9 Metrics Every Profitable Rancher Should Track!
Progressive, profitable ranchers don't become successful just by a little bit of luck. They treat their ranching operation as a business that's gotta make money. Download this PDF to discover 9 key metrics that many successful ranchers watch to keep them on the right track.
