Only $278 In The Bank And 550 Cows To Feed

September 13, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

From $278 and 550 Cows to a Growing Seed Stock Operation

Luke and Natalie Kavoric run a cattle operation in central Nebraska that has grown from nothing into a 700-cow seed stock and commercial cow-calf business. Luke started with $278 in the bank after securing beginning farmer loans, leasing his dad's cows, and buying another 250 from a neighbor. He had a master's degree in ruminant nutrition but no equity in equipment or land. To make it work, he ran a custom AI business on the side, backgrounded other people's calves through the winter, and did whatever else would generate cash flow to make equipment payments. "I had two hundred and seventy eight dollars to my name when I got done making everything look as good as it could look," he says. "But it had to be positive."

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What you'll learn

1 (00:48) **Welcome & Guest Introduction** - The hosts introduce Luke and Natalie Cavorik, a Nebraska cattle couple building a seed stock operation and a media platform.
2 (06:52) **Cattle Operation Overview** - Luke describes their current setup: a growing registered Angus bull sale and a shrinking commercial cow-calf herd.
3 (11:54) **Origin Stories: Natalie** - Natalie explains growing up on a fourth-generation registered Hereford ranch in Montana and not initially planning to stay in agriculture.
4 (16:05) **Origin Stories: Luke** - Luke recounts growing up in a small Nebraska town where his father, an optometrist, hated agriculture but kept a few cattle for the kids.
5 (22:53) **Side Hustles and the Path to Seed Stock** - Luke explains how his custom AI business built relationships and trust, paving the way for the registered Angus program.
6 (27:23) **How They Met** - Luke traveled to Natalie’s family bull sale in Montana to buy a Hereford bull, and the rest is history.
7 (33:17) **Industry Outlook & Optimism** - Luke shares his bullish view on the cattle industry, citing shrinking cow country and strong protein demand.

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Show Notes

He stacked every FSA beginning farmer loan he could get, went from about 100 cows to 550 in roughly a year, and when the balance sheet finally settled he was positive by $278. That is the number this whole episode hangs on. Luke and Natalie Kovarik run Kovarik Cattle Co., a first generation Angus seedstock operation out of Ord, Nebraska, selling around 100 bulls a year in a January sale that started at 30. Luke was a town kid with 160 acres and a dental school plan. Natalie is fourth generation Hereford out of Montana, and today she works four jobs off the ranch, including marketing and equity in Red Ants Pants. Almost everything they earn away from the cows exists to pay for the cows. The middle of this one is the direct to consumer beef autopsy, twelve straight minutes on why selling your own beef is so much harder than the internet makes it look, why she dreaded Sunday nights, and what happened to the freezer inventory. Then the influencing pivot, why she stepped back from putting her family online, and what she does with the audience now. Also in this one: custom AI and backgrounding somebody else's calves to make equipment payments, $5,000 of blackjack money wired for embryos, reading bull catalogs like a swimsuit edition, meeting at her family's bull sale, lab grown meat and consumer trust, putting cattle back on grain farms and the pasture that rural towns already lost, hiring and keeping good help, bricking their kids' phones and putting a landline back in the house, twelve landlords and not one under 68, and why they are not building this ranch for their kids. His line on who the ranch is for: no, we're doing it for us. What should we dig into next week? Put it in the comments. JOIN THE BARN TALK NEWSLETTER & GET LIVE EVENT ACCESS: We're on a mission to get 10,000 subscribers, and once we do, we're hosting a live event at the barn! Sign up to get exclusive access to tickets and details.👇🏻 Help us get there: https://www.joinbarntalk.com THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY: ● Propane Farm Research Program ➱ propane.com/farmfunding ● Iowa Corn Growers ➱ iowacorn.org TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Cold open and guest introduction 04:29 A local airport, and a pilot's license he never finished 06:19 The operation, and the four jobs Natalie works 09:22 What subsidizes what, and blackjack money wired for embryos 11:21 Montana, fourth generation Hereford, how Natalie grew up 15:11 Sponsor break, Propane Farm Research Program 15:40 A town kid, 160 acres, dental school, and $278 in the bank 19:49 Custom AI, Genex, and a master's that paid for cows 23:46 First cows in '14, and bull catalogs like a swimsuit edition 26:57 They met at her family's bull sale 32:49 Market outlook, consumer trust, lab grown, Beyond Meat 42:35 Putting cattle back on grain farms, and the pasture we lost 50:01 Calving date, and developing two year old bulls 54:25 Sponsor break, Iowa Corn Growers 55:22 From 30 bulls to 100, growing the herd 59:07 Finding Duncan and Mitch, and keeping the