The Farm Way

The “farm way” is something I can’t help but struggle with. Recently I have been blessed to be allowed to show one of my friend’s Southdown lambs at this year’s county fair. I do not have a lot of experience working with sheep, and the experiences I have had have been unpleasant. Until now, I found it best to avoid them.

The lamb I chose is quite cute (well, I think he is), but the family who owns him says he is scrawny and has poor conformation for showing. To me he was the best looking lamb out of the four, but as the weeks drag on even I am beginning to see his flaws. He has crooked, short, front legs and is smaller than his half-brothers who were born two weeks after him. Despite that, it breaks me a bit to know that after the County Fair, my lamb, and the others, will be sold. That is the farm way: if an animal doesn’t have a use then it doesn’t have a reason to be on the farm.

Time is passing and the fair will be upon us soon. I keep trying to find a reason for him to stay, to find his “use on the farm,” but my suggestions are shot down. There's no reason to breed an animal with poor conformation. After he’s a year old he can no longer be shown through the country fair. All he would be doing is eating, which costs money, and taking up space that could be used for the new sheep.

As I continue researching for my project I keep coming back to the “farm way.” The more I read and talk to local farmers the more I see an old style of life that still exists in the farming culture. “Farmers” don’t keep around many “pets.”

Farming is a hard way of life and it is quite costly. There isn’t much room for an animal that won't or can’t make milk, breed, or produce a product that could be sold in order to pay for them to live on the farm. I understand why these animals are sold and obviously many of these animals are raised for consumption, but in my heart I still feel a little depressed, especially about my lamb.

Farming can be a hard business to run. You have to be able to manage a large lot of land, mutilated head of livestock, and be smart enough to be risky at certain times. Raising beef cattle seems to be an industry where one would be able to grow and thrive in. It is an industry stuck in its old ways, yet it is adapting to new techniques, but only if it benefits the animal.

PC: Farmgirl Photography

Raising beef isn’t cheap and even having a hobby farm isn’t overly cheap. There are three main categories you have to financially figure out.

The first is the necessities needed to keep the livestock themselves. They will need pasture for summer or hay. If you chose to raise them on pasture you have to understand the land itself and know when to rotate through different pastures. If you chose to feed them hay you have to be knowledgeable to different mixtures along with having the money to transport the hay. Don’t forget the cost to have running water and a pump.

After this the livestock might need medical care. Teeth, feet, spring shots, and dewormer are just a glance of what cattle may need in order to maintain health. Then you have to add in the price to actually buy the animal with could cost $50 to a couple thousand, easily.

The second is the farm itself. There has to be money to fix buildings, tractors, and trucks that run the farm. Don’t forget trailers that will transport these animals from farm to farm. Also, there might have to be money to pay hired hands that will run these machinery.

The last thing you have to add into all the finances is what will the farmer need? They need food, water, and shelter just like the livestock. They need money for their kids to go to school and food on their tables at night., along with electricity and medical care. Farming is a hard way of life that holds many factors when it comes in financial costs. The past couple of paragraphs didn’t even list off half of what some/many farms pay for in order to keep in business.

As I read deeper into farming, it seems that beef farming is starting to be a promising occupation in agriculture. “The new president of the National Cattlemen's' Beef Association, J.D. Alexander from Nebraska, says there is definitely more money in farming and the cattle business than ever before, and income potential matches that of urban jobs. But he tempers any enthusiasm with the sheer cost of running a cattle business today” (Successful Farming).

Beef farmer is an hard way of living. Finances differ from farm to farm, bread to bread, long with the number of cattle each person has. It’s a business built on trust between the livestock and ranchers. It’s an unspoken promise, that the farmer will go above and beyond for the cattle and in return the cattle will produce new additions to the herd.

After research, I feel like I am able to understand why there isn’t much room for useless animals on a working farm.

“Farming is a profession of hope.” - Brian Brett

“Let me know what you all think. How easy is it to keep your herd happy and healthy?”

-MNM

Resources:

"Young can make money in cattle." Successful Farming. Meredith Corporation, 20 Oct. 2016. Web. 12 May 2017.

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