John KempfRegenerative Agriculture Entrepreneur

Podcast Ep 180: Shifting Management Logistics to Build a Better Lifestyle with Tom Cotter

28 May 2026 · 1 min

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In this monologue, Tom Cotter reflects on his transition from a 120‑hour workweek to a simpler, nature‑centric lifestyle centered on cattle farming. He describes how the shift has allowed him to work fewer hours, spend more time with family, and enjoy leisure activities like motorcycle rides. The cattle are largely self‑sustaining—they feed themselves and only require watering when temperatures exceed about 85 °F—making the operation low‑maintenance yet profitable. He highlights the current agricultural trend favoring livestock, notes the involvement of his brother‑in‑law Tony in the farm, and emphasizes how this streamlined approach has improved his work‑life balance while still generating income.

Chapters

People think it's hectic, but it's just, I'm working with nature and it just, I work less now than I did. I used to brag about 120 hours a week back when I was younger and I lost out on my family, put the workload on my wife. And now it's like, heck, Friday tomorrow I gotta go look at the cows quick and then we'll go for a motorcycle ride. We'll go up, visit our daughter and My brother-in-law Tony, who works with me, it's like, oh, can you come out? Just drive out, look at the cows. Sometimes we need water, but it's only when it's like 85 degrees that we have to water every day. And it's just so easy working with it. It's simplified everything. While they're working, they're making me money. And that diversity— what's the hot thing in agriculture right now? Livestock. Cattle. Yeah, it just— and I don't even feed them. I don't have to feed them. They feed themselves.