My family owned and operated a 400 acre ranch in Colorado.
My name is Linda. In my youth, my family owned a 400 acre ranch and also leased 1000+ additional acres of ranch land in south central Colorado, which we also irrigated, hayed, and pastured. We owned 300 cow/calf pairs and pastured 300-500 head of yearlings every summer.
As a kid, I remember that once a year, the vice president of the bank where my folks had their loan, would come out to the ranch. He would look at everything and count the livestock. As I got older, I realized this guy was putting a value on the livestock and equipment.
How real was that value?
It may be a fair market value, but if it came to things needing to be sold at liquidation (or even forced values) then the income from the sale isn’t what the value was. Then neither the owner nor lender are happy. How better could I serve the industries that I love, then by being the appraiser? I feel I am very qualified.
I have grown up working on a ranch, and stayed closely connected to farming and ranching, as well as running heavy equipment for the past 15-20 years. I am a certified machinery/equipment appraiser through NEBB Institute, and also certified for equipment and livestock through the American Society of Agricultural Appraisers.