Your numbers stay on your computer
This site has no accounts, no sign-in, no database and no tracking or advertising cookies. What you type into the tools is saved only in your own web browser, so it is there the next time you open the site on the same computer. Two things leave your browser: questions you choose to ask Jim, and the map lookups on the My Ranch page. Both are described below.
What is stored, and where
Everything below is kept in your browser's local storage on this device. Back40 does not receive it and cannot see it. Clearing your browser's site data, or the button at the end of this section, deletes it.
| What | Why | Where it is kept |
|---|---|---|
| Prices and factors you enter (market prices, operating costs, herd calculators) | So every tool starts from your numbers | Your browser only |
| Your ranch from My Ranch (pasture outlines, herd, feed plan) and a short text summary of it | So the ranch is still there next visit, and so other pages can use it | Your browser only |
| Your conversation with Jim | So the chat follows you from page to page | Your browser only, deleted when you close the tab |
| Light or dark theme, which My Ranch step you were on, whether Jim may use your ranch | Display preferences | Your browser only |
Jim, the AI assistant
Jim runs on Claude, an AI model made by Anthropic. When you send Jim a question, the question, the earlier messages of the same chat and the title of the page you are on go through a small relay server run for this site to Anthropic, which writes the answer. If you saved a ranch in My Ranch and leave the “Use my saved ranch” switch on, a short summary of that ranch (acres, herd, forage and feed estimates, not the map outline) is sent with your question too. Turn the switch off in the chat window to stop that.
- The relay has no database: it passes your messages to Anthropic and streams the answer back.
- Anthropic processes the messages to answer them under its commercial terms; under those terms, API data is not used to train its models. See Anthropic's privacy center.
- Please do not type names, addresses, phone numbers, account or tax numbers, or other personal information into the chat.
- Jim gives general educational information from published beef cattle budgets and decision-aid manuals. It can be wrong. It is not financial, tax, legal or veterinary advice; check important decisions with your county Extension agent or a professional.
Public services the My Ranch map uses
When you draw or search on the My Ranch map, your browser asks these public services for information about that location. They receive the location you are looking at and, like any website, your IP address. No other data from this site is sent to them.
| Service | What it is asked for |
|---|---|
| USDA-NRCS Soil Data Access | Soils and range production inside your pasture outline |
| USGS 3D Elevation Program | Ground elevation inside your pasture outline, to measure its slopes |
| U.S. Drought Monitor (served through Esri ArcGIS) | This week's drought level at your ranch |
| Esri World Imagery and OpenStreetMap | Satellite and street map pictures for the map |
| OpenStreetMap Nominatim | The town or address you type in the map search box |
All the site's own code, map libraries and fonts are served from this site; no advertising, analytics or social-media scripts are loaded.