Today’s Rancher
Today’s Rancher is back! Why did it ever go away? Well, it really didn’t, after 20+ years it was just taking a break. To understand why, you have to know the history of Today’s Rancher and how it came into being in the first place.
The History of Today’s Rancher
Today’s Rancher was born in 2005. That was the year that the founder, Hank Wilson, at the time the Pastor of the Llano Cowboy Church (rural ministers almost always have second jobs, because we aren’t in the ministry for the money) was approached by a church member who ran a ranch in Llano, Texas about building them a website. Now this person knew that Hank was running a news website that dealt with rodeo (worldofrodeo.com) and was familiar with the agricultural community and ranching. This was not an ordinary ranch; in fact, this was a truly unique ranch that raised White Tail deer. After building the ranch’s initial website, one of the people who were managing the ranch discovered that Hank, in addition to building websites, also wrote accounting software. (Like I said, rural ministers, have to have multiple jobs just to pay the bills)
Well, one thing led to another and subsequently Hank was asked if he could write a software package, they could use to help track their deer and use in their day-to-day operation. After thinking about its Hank realized that while the terminology might be different, ranching was and is a business and each of them relied on their accounting and booking system to stay afloat. Ranches and farmers all could use an inventory control and asset management accounting system. By 2007, Hank had completed a package that managed the tracking of the deer, expenses, income, and pedigrees. This was when things became interesting.
In late 2007, another rancher who was an acquaintance of Hank’s asked if the program could be adapted to work with cattle and other types of livestock. Of course, Hank said yes, and in 2008 released the first version of Today’s Rancher Desktop. The program was designed to track Cattle, Sheep, Goats, Horses, and Hog and was very well received by the marketplace. For the next several years Hank continued to modify the program, adding features that were requested by the user base. In fact, everything in Today’s Rancher Desktop is there because a real-life rancher or farmer asked for it.
Then people began to ask about a mobile version of the system and in 2015 Hank wrote and released Today’s Rancher Mobile Cattle Rancher for Android. Why did Hank decide to build a mobile app? Well, the desktop version was stable and humming along very nicely, when in December of 2012 an author friend (Anthony Morse) approached him and asked if he could write a mobile app that would let people read a novel that Anthony had written on their Nook devices. Not being afraid of a challenge, Hank said yes and in 2013 they released one of the first eBook mobile apps. This one was different because when the person turned the page, sounds would play, and it also included a video. Well, the success of that first app intrigued Hank and over the next two years, he and Anthony combined to build and release about 200 mobile apps that played audiobooks. That brought the calendar to 2015 when Anthony asked Hank why not do a mobile app for Today’s Rancher? So, he sat down and did and introduced Today’s Mobile Cattle Rancher to the Android world.
At the same time, he introduced Today’s Rancher Cloud that interfaced with the mobile system. He also wrote multiple entertainment and productivity apps. For the next 2 years, things went fairly smoothly. Alas, that was not to continue. In 2017 Hank decided to check off one of his bucket list items and enrolled at Texas Tech University. Now he had already gone to college and studied theology in California, but he had always wanted a degree from Tech. That 1st year went very smoothly until 2019.
In 2019, Hank suffered a detached retina and required eye surgery. Now for most people, being a problem isn’t always traumatic, except that back in 2010 he had already lost one eye due to a botched retina surgery by the VA. But God looked after him and this time he found doctors who took care of his eye, and also insisted that he slow down. So, he did just that and focused on other less eye straining endeavors.
He continued his education and in 2020 graduated with a BA from Texas Tech, and in 2022 received his master’s also from Tech and the bucket list was taken care of. While continuing his studies, in order to truly slow down, he had discontinued the cloud system and worked on other less strenuous projects, including his studies, recording audiobooks, and running a podcast of Texas history. It was through his audiobooks and earlier mobile app development (remember Anthony?) that he had become involved with Ashby Navis and Tennyson Digital Media Publishing out of San Antonio.
In 2022, he was approached by Ashby Navis about the possibly of joining forces and in late 2023 he agreed, and Today’s Rancher became a part of Ashby Navis. Why Ashby Navis? Simple, over the years Hank had been approached by several others who all were much the same. Existing businesses who wanted to “buy” Today’s Rancher and make it part of some conglomerate. Old school, cumbersome and with expense overhead that would soon turn Today’s Rancher software into something unrecognizable and unaffordable. Ashby Navis, on the other hand, believes in a decentralized operation, no flashy offices, no extensive overhead, and keeping things affordable.
They are also highly creative and open to suggestions and new ways to build Today’s Rancher brand. As a result, a series of video games are now being produced under the Today’s Rancher label and are being distributed internationally. With their support and belief in the product, Today’s Rancher solutions are once again being brought into the marketplace.
All 3 versions of the products are being reintroduced to the world. Today’s Rancher Desktop Bronze version is the stable version of the Windows based software that runs on all current versions of Windows. Today’s Rancher Cattle Management Cloud is a subscription-based cloud-based system designed for the small to medium sized cattle operation. Today’s Rancher Mobile Cattle Rancher is being redesigned for release in the last month of 2024. Following in 2024 will be cloud and mobile versions for Sheep and or Goat breeding operations.
The software that earned its spurs on the ranch is back and better than ever.
Thank you for supporting Today’s Rancher over the past 20 years and God Bless.
Oh, and by the way, if you’d like more information about my Hidden History of Texas audiobook series you can find information about them here.
Hank Wilson – Founder