At one time, I was of the opinion that some of the others are---if you didn't make your living from farming or ranching, then you were a hobby farmer. Guess I've changed my opinion some over the years. It no longer seems as unusual for someone to hold a job in town just to make ends meet. I don't consider that any differently than the larger ranches that rely on hunting income to help pay some bills. Now, that seems to be most of them. Either way, it is merely a diversification that allows people to keep doing what they want to do.
Hobby farmers that run cattle need to always bear a few things in mind. What you do for your hobby creates a huge negative impact on some people's livelihoods. Just because of the sheer numbers. All of the small producers amount to huge numbers of cattle. And the resulting huge demand on inputs. Small producers influence the price of inputs for full-time ranchers by bidding up the price on land, pasture rent, labor, feed, fertilizer, equipment, custom work and on and on. Small producers do this when they have discretionary income to spend that doesn't have to create a return on investment. Hard for a rancher to compete with that kind of "management." So, you can see where that creates a problem for the rancher that either needs to expand or just wants to hang onto what he's got. If somebody is outbidding him for lease land or other inputs with money from another source, the future looks pretty tough.
Then there's the supply side and the everpresent old cattle cycle. We all contribute to the downturn with excess production, but often, when the market takes a downturn, the first ones to bail out and jump ship are the hobby guys. The ones who finally figure out that they're not gonna get rich, after all. The hobby guys sell out by the thousands, or tens of thousands, and this huge oversupply of cattle now drags down the market for the rancher who doesn't have the luxury of bailing out, even if he had the desire. The rancher is then stuck with this predicament for years to come. Not very pleasant being in the cattle business during those days. Many of you will never experience that. Count your blessings.
After reading this thread, I guess I'm even more confused than ever about what a hobby farmer is. Lots of good comments here. I'm still pretty sure that the mere fact of owning a few cows does not make someone a cattleman. Nor does the fact of owning a lot of cows make someone a cattleman. At least, not in my eyes. And I'm still unsure what it is that makes the hobby farmer so defensive about being referred to as a hobby farmer. In any case, if you've got to have a hobby, having cattle has got to be the best hobby there is!