Customer Reviews

Country Properties: How to Select, Invest and Manage Land, Beef Cattle and Pecans

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

We were ready to buy a piece of land but were not exactly sure how to proceed. Country Properties showed us step by step how to make the right selection, hire a manager, maintain and establish the pastures for our cattle and horses and enjoy the rural setting with peace of mind! Everyone should read this reference book before they venture into the world of rural living and also buy a copy for your manager. He will really appreciate, use and understand these helpful hints! You will end up buying more copies for friends and family. This book is truly one of a kind!

This book gives excellent first hand insight on all aspects of being a ranch property owner. The book's authors did an very thorough job in clearly identifing the key elements of aquiring land, raising cattle, and growing pecans. It motivates one to "Cowboy UP" and buy some property.

Country Properties is "must" reading for anyone aspiring to relocating in the country, or who has newly arrived in a rural setting and seeking to make a life and a livelihood there. Country Properties is an authoritative, practical, "reader-friendly" instruction guide to buying a place in the country and taking up an agricultural pursuit. John and Jennifer Hoff provide invaluable details on buying, selling, marketing, and production; tips on enhancing your real estate and agricultural investment; helpful overviews for current owners and managers of country farms, ranches, and estates; insights in to the biology and genetics of agribusiness; provide useful resources; technical illustrations; and a great deal of personal stories, anecdotes and humor. The Hoff's informative text is enhanced with original illustrations by Galen Struve.

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief, The Midwest Book Review

HIRE A MANAGER??

That's the most fool thing I think I ever heard of. I can't wait to tell the guys at the local "coffee table" that some fool yuppies bought'em a book and some land, hired a "manager", and are sitting back waiting for the money to roll in. What a hoot.

Maybe you should buy some Alpaca to go on it - I hear there's big money in them. And some Chinchilla - you gotta run a herd of Chinchilla if you want to bring in the big bucks. Oh, and Emu, Ostrich,...well, I'm sure somebody will come along with lots of good opportunities now that you have you a manager.

Meanwhile, I guess the rest of us poor fools who grew up on farms and ranches will just have to get by with no manager, and plain old cows, pigs, and chickens. Actually, we do have a manager on staff - she is black and white, has four legs and a tail, likes her ears scratched, and works for table scraps.

Remember - Behind every successful rancher is a wife with a job in town.

As I was browsing through books on buying country properties, I came across this gem! This book gives wonderful insight into buying country properites and starting a ranch. I used information from it in my purchase of land and it has been invaluable. The Hoff's combined experience gives great insight to all aspects of managing land. It is one of the few books on the market that actually has useful information!

This book has been very informative. It gives you lots of useful information in getting started and where to find onsite resources in a format that was very easy to understand. The only knock I give it is the frequency with which they use the term weekend cowboy. It was kind of condescending to me. Other than that great book!

Before buying any book on how to ranch, be aware of what NAIS will do to owning cattle or any other livestock and how it messes with title to your property. have any of you heard of the ridiculous program called NAIS(national animal identification system)? It will require all those who own even one chicken, or other livestock animal, to register their premises (negating title to private property), microchip and file birth, death and movement reports so the govt know where those animals are at any moment. The silly reasons given for this program range from bird flu, mad cow, bioterrorist attack or any number of "you need our help" garabage but the real reason is to benefit multi billion dollar corporate agriculture so they can improve their marketability while sticking it to the rest of us.....[...].