MTD Ranch Consultants offers unique ag services

With a steely passion for the ag industry and the resilient producers who work around the clock – rain or shine – to feed, fuel and clothe America, New Mexico-based MTD Ranch Consultants offers a wide-range of unique and useful services for producers across the nation. 

The company was started by Owner and Founder Aaron Baldridge, who grew up on his family’s fifth-generation farm and ranch in a small, close-knit ag community in the Southwest.

“I decided to go to college, then went to work for the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) as a range management specialist, where part of my interest was to be an advocate for the ranching industry,” Baldridge stated. “I thought ranchers and land agencies should be in partnership, but I know oftentimes this isn’t the case.” 

After an early retirement from USFS, Baldridge established MTD Ranch Consultants with the original intent of providing consultation services between landowners and public land agencies and helping producers navigate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process.

Today, with the help of a vast, good-hearted, knowledgeable and experienced crew of fellow livestock producers, veterinarians, ag experts, neighbors and community members, MTD Ranch Consultants is a one-stop shop to aid producers in a variety of different ways. 

Consultation services

Consultation remains a pillar of the company’s services, and Baldridge noted MTD Ranch Consultants can guide livestock producers through the NEPA process for public lands grazing, help with applicant status and review documents during the required agency grazing consultation process with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, provide mediation services between public land grazers and agencies and provide aid in non-compliance or pre-non-compliance public lands grazing situations. 

With extensive experience working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, MTD Ranch Consultants can also help farmers and ranchers with coordinated resource management plans; water system, solar system or other range improvement designs; irrigation system updates; brush management and detailed ranch plans based on specific goals to address resource concerns.

“We know how critical water is to farms and ranches. It is real property that is bought and sold regularly. It’s a big deal in the Southwest, and we are very familiar with it,” Baldridge added, noting MTD Ranch Consultants can help producers and landowners better understand state water laws and individual water rights.

Estate planning is a tough and uncomfortable topic all farmers and ranchers must face at some point, and Baldridge mentioned the team at MTD Ranch Consultants can provide advice and assistance when transferring an operation to the next generation.

“We have some professional estate and tax attorneys who can take it from the planning phase to creating a will, financial and healthcare power of attorney, revocable living trust and more,” he stated. 

Ranch assessments 

Another service MTD Ranch Consultants offers is a complete and thorough pre-purchase ranch inspection for buyers, sellers and realtors alike. 

“Let’s say somebody is coming from Texas to Montana to buy a ranch, and they want to be crystal clear on what it is they are purchasing. They could give us a call, and we would set up a time to go to the ranch,” he explained. “We would bring a small team to conduct assessments; look at fences, water systems and infrastructure and give them a report on the condition of the ranch.” 

Baldridge noted this unbiased assessment may also include things like forage cover, feed resources and noxious weed inventories; livestock capacity; grazing permits; endangered species regulations and predator loss, etc. 

The team may also evaluate onsite infrastructure such as houses, outbuilding and barns, as well as farm equipment. 

“We’re not certified appraisers, but we can provide a fair assessment of what we feel the condition is of each of those things,” Baldridge stated. “And, we’re willing to travel across the U.S. We’re not limited to a certain area.”

Baldridge also shared the MTD Ranch Consultants team can provide a fresh perspective and offer producers unbiased opinions on how to make their ranch more profitable and successful.

He noted the team will gather information such as the producer’s goals and objectives; information from past years; current forage assessments; pasture rotations; mineral, feed and other ranch outputs; cattle condition and ranch condition, etc., then make recommendations such as ways to incorporate a new class or species of livestock, plant a different crop rotation or break into a niche market such as direct-to-consumer marketing of grass-fed beef or popular vegetables, for instance. 

Onsite assistance

In addition to performing assessments and inspections and offering a wide-range of consultation services, MTD Ranch Consultants also provides assistance onsite. 

One of the most unique services they offer is farm and ranch sitting for producers who would like to go on vacation or happen to have a family emergency, etc. 

“This was something we started doing because we have personally had trouble with it,” Baldridge shared. “There are times we want to go on vacation or we run into some kind of family emergency and have to stress about how we are going to feed or get somebody who knows livestock or how to change our water, fix a leak, doctor sick animals, pull calves, run equipment, milk a cow, or whatever the case may be.”

“So, we offer those services, and we certainly wouldn’t put any restrictions on where we are willing to go to do that,” he added.

Baldridge explained, in this case, the MTD Ranch Consultants crew would arrive onsite a few days early to tour the operation and receive a briefing on what needs done. 

“Then, the producer would be able to leave town with peace of mind, and we would communicate with them while they are gone,” he said. “And our folks are professional – no alcohol, no smoking, no drugs and no drama.” 

Along these same lines, MTD Ranch Consultants can also help producers who are shorthanded or fill the gap for operations that are between managers by serving as a set of extra hands for temporary or seasonal work such as calving, lambing, summer cattle work or farming. 

“We are just big advocates for the agriculture industry in general, and we know livestock are such an important part of healthy private and public lands,” Baldridge concluded. “I want to see the livestock and farming industries thrive for future generations, and we are willing to do whatever we can to help with that.” 

Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.