Bovine Podiatrist Nate Ranallo Expands Into Content Business as Nate the Hoof Guy

Entrepreneur: Nate Ranallo

Biz: Nate the Hoof Guy

Tilt: Trimming cows’ hooves

Scene: YouTube (1.57M), Facebook (1.6M), TikTok (2M)  merch

Snack Bites: 

• Nate is a bovine podiatrist who started videos of his work to clear up misconceptions about cow hoof trimming, such as it doesn’t hurt and is akin to nail trimming on humans.
• Though he created the content for educational purposes, the audience watched for entertainment value. That growth garnered the attention of The New York Times, Wisconsin Public Radio, and industry trade publications such as Ag Daily.
• Nate spends 45 to 50 hours in his bovine podiatry business and another 30 to 50 hours on the content business.

Why We Stan: Nate started his YouTube channel as an educational channel and marketing tool for his business. But he leaned into the wider audience appeal, creating a full-fledged content business. 

The Story of Nate Ranallo

Nate Ranallo has been a bovine podiatrist for over 20 years, operating Ranallo Hoof Care in Wisconsin. He’s been a content entrepreneur for four, operating as Nate the Hoof Guy.

In 2020, Nate started making videos of his work – trimming cows’ hooves. He tells Wisconsin Public Radio that he started creating the content because he saw the comments reacting to a video of a cow having her hooves trimmed.

“People thought that it was some type of torture. This cow was just getting her feet trimmed, but the chute that she was in looked uncomfortable. So, people jump to conclusions.

“I wanted to be able to offer my own insight on these different problems — why they happen, what trimming actually is and why we do it.”

Quick lesson in bovine podiatry: Trimming hooves is akin to trimming a human’s nails – it doesn’t hurt.

Since then, his YouTube channel has grown to over 1.5M subscribers, amassing almost 750M views, and his TikTok account has about 2M subscribers. His unexpected content business has grabbed the attention of not only local media but The New York Times and trade media like Ag Daily.

​​“I misread where the interest would come from,” Nate explains in The New York Times interview. “Even though I presented in an educational format, they were using it as more of an entertainment source.”

He goes on to say viewers tend to be drawn to the more stomach-churning aspects of trimming, though viewers also say watching the videos is therapeutic.

WiscNews asks if Nate is the “Bob Ross of hoof trimmers” in its article about their local entrepreneur. He tells them he spends 45 to 50 hours a week trimming hooves and another 30 to 50 hours as a content creator.

A year prior to launching his YouTube channel in 2020, Nate was still using a flip phone. “I had never edited a single piece of footage in my life. So my early videos are a little rough around the edges, you might say. But I was able to learn over time and figure out what I needed to do, how to trim those videos down to make them more pleasing to the eye,” he tells Wisconsin Public Radio.

Nate earns revenue with his content-focused business and has his own line of merchandise. VidIQ estimates his recent monthly revenue from YouTube is between $25K and $74.9K.

He also offers a paid subscription through Facebook. For $1.99 a month, paid subscribers get a special badge displayed next to their comments on his posts and live videos, highlighted in the comments section, five featured comments a month on live videos, plus recognition in a post celebrating new subscribers.

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