Free Ranch Record Keeping: Options That Work

You don't need to spend money to keep good ranch records. You need a system you'll actually use. Here are free and nearly free ways to track cattle, money and land, from simplest to most capable.

1. Pocket notebook plus a monthly spreadsheet

Write at the pens, then type it into a spreadsheet once a month. Use one row per animal and columns for tag, birth date, dam, sire, pregnancy check, calving date, birth and weaning weights. Add a separate sheet for treatments with product, dose, date and withdrawal date. Free and surprisingly effective for small herds; the weak point is remembering to transfer the notes.

2. farmOS

farmOS is free, open-source farm record software for animals, land, equipment and activities. You can host it yourself, or pay a hosting provider if you don't want to run a server.

3. Very low-cost trials

Breedr lists a $2/month tier for up to 50 head. CattleMax and Farmbrite offer free trials, which are a good way to test before paying.

Free money records

Wave's Starter plan is $0 for invoicing and bookkeeping, with fees for card payments. Keep a separate bank account for the ranch to make bookkeeping and taxes much easier, and ask your tax preparer what records they want for Schedule F.

Free land records

Use USDA's Web Soil Survey for soil maps and the Rangeland Analysis Platform for vegetation trends. Log rainfall from your own gauge and compare with TexMesonet stations.

The records that matter most

• Treatments and withdrawal dates (protects you at sale)
• Calving dates and pregnancy checks (find open and late cows)
• Weaning weights by dam (find your best and worst cows)
• Income and expenses by enterprise

More options: best free ranch tools.

Tools in this guide

1. farmOS

   Free, open-source farm management and record-keeping software you can self-host.

   Pricing: Free (open source) · Herd & Cattle Records

2. Equestria

   Barn management software for horse operations (health tracking, invoicing, scheduling); states it is free.

   Pricing: Free (as stated on site) · Herd & Cattle Records

3. Rangeland Analysis Platform

   Free online tool showing vegetation cover and production trends for US rangelands.

   Pricing: Free · Grazing & Pasture

4. Grass-Cast

   Free forecast of grassland productivity for the western US and Great Plains.

   Pricing: Free · Grazing & Pasture

5. Web Soil Survey

   Free USDA-NRCS soil maps and data for your land.

   Pricing: Free · Grazing & Pasture

6. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension

   Free extension resources on forage, hay and cattle nutrition.

   Pricing: Free resources · Hay & Feed

7. USDA AMS Market News

   Free USDA livestock and hay market price reports.

   Pricing: Free · Marketplaces & Auctions

8. National Weather Service

   Free official US forecasts and warnings.

   Pricing: Free · Weather

9. US Drought Monitor

   Free weekly US drought maps.

   Pricing: Free · Weather

10. TexMesonet

    Free Texas Water Development Board map of weather stations and rain gauges across Texas.

    Pricing: Free · Weather

11. ChatGPT

    General AI assistant for writing, research and analysis.

    Pricing: Free tier; paid plans (see site) · AI Assistants

12. Claude

    General AI assistant from Anthropic.

    Pricing: Free tier; paid plans (see site) · AI Assistants

13. Google Gemini

    General AI assistant from Google.

    Pricing: Free tier; paid plans (see site) · AI Assistants

14. Grok

    General AI assistant with real-time web and X search.

    Pricing: Free tier; paid plans (see site) · AI Assistants

15. Perplexity

    AI answer engine that cites sources.

    Pricing: Free tier; paid plans (see site) · AI Assistants

16. Microsoft Copilot

    General AI assistant from Microsoft.

    Pricing: Free tier; paid plans (see site) · AI Assistants

17. Otter.ai

    AI meeting and voice note transcription.

    Pricing: Free plan; paid plans per user (see site) · AI Assistants