Growing from boots-on-the-ground manager to CEO mindset

Though the ranchland he now owns has been in the family since the 1950s, Ben Campbell didn’t inherit an abundance of agricultural expertise. Far from it. “I didn’t really know anything about anything to do with agriculture,” he says.

Trained as an engineer and in a career that didn’t feel right for him, he got the urge to buy a few yearlings and test out the industry, and everything aligned. Everything except his own knowledge base.

“One of the first things I got was Raising Beef Cattle for Dummies,” he recounts with a laugh. And that was only the beginning. “I [read] everything I could find about rotational grazing, winter feeding, water systems, fencing systems, cattle ailments, breeding – that’s the thing about the beef sector, there are just so many things you can learn.”

Ben attended conferences across Canada, took courses in Idaho and South Dakota, and when he realized he needed a local support network, well, he just started cold-calling ranchers nearby. 

Given his enthusiasm, it’s not surprising that today Grazed Right, the ranch he runs alongside his wife Stephanie outside Calgary, is a bustling enterprise and a fresh take on how modern farm management can work for a young family with big plans. 

Ben rented family land until he was able to purchase 320 acres of it. He now rents a portion more, giving him about 1,400 acres and an assortment of infrastructure – only some of which he has needed. This year, the farm boasts roughly 270 yearlings, 30 grass-fed cows for direct marketing, 10 pigs and a handful of chickens. He also boards horses and rents out portions of his unused farm buildings, but next year could be a different story. 

“Every year I do an analysis on all the different ways I make money, and I create two numbers,” Ben explains: return on investment and dollars-per-hour wage for his own labour. “If anything stands out that isn’t making a lot of money, or if they are all making money but I’m too busy and I need to cut something, I know what needs to be cut.”

Unsurprisingly, Ben’s a big fan of spreadsheets, and he’s also aware of their limitations: “Another thing that doesn’t have a number value but is as important is that I enjoy certain things more than others,” he explains.