A hobby farmer makes their money at a job and wishes they could have cattle. A real rancher makes his living with cattle and wishes he had a steady job to make decent money. :lol: :lol: :lol:
The IRS has a very big section to handle "hobby farmers" (although they term it "venture not entered for profit" or something like that because they said the word hobby farmer is offensive to some people). There are certain criteria that the auditors look for such as profit motive, did you seek and heed professional advice, record keeping, did you do cost analysis, do you make adjustments to improve profits (there might be a few more). Basically if you earn an outside income and cant show a real profit in 3 out of five years for cattle or 3 out of seven years for horses it is deemed that you entered the venture without a profit motive (as a hobby). If you meet the criteria you cant claim any losses on the operation (but they gladly take a portion when you show a profit).
If someone gets their income from another source and raises a few because they like it, does not make them a hobby farmer in my book. If they do not have proper fences and the calves get hit on a road, if they feed costly feeds or buy lavish items for the animal, if they treat the animals as pets, if they believe that the cattle are not to be "harmed" by conventional veternary practices (i.e. antibiotics, castration, etc.), if they could not bring themselves to allow an animal to be slaughtered for food, a sick animal euthanized, or a bad animal culled, they are not profit oriented and therefore a hobbyist.
I only own some calves I backgrounded, a few of which I will keep to fatten and sell to family and friends. Many would call me a hobby farmer because it is a small operation and I make decent cash elswhere but I am growing slowly, learning as I go and accumulating cash. I expect them to make a profit even if it is a slim one. I would own the land anyway so this way I dont have to mow it, I get a tax exemption and I get a few bucks out of it to boot. I do enjoy cattle but I dont go out and pet them or give my kids rides on them. I analyze what to feed them to allow me to make something on them, sell early or keep longer depending on the conditions that year and I go back at the end of the year and see where i could pinch a little more out. Call me a hobby farmer if you will but I hate the term for the very reasons I listed above.
P.S. I dont think it is fair to lump Newbies and Hobby farmers into one group. Everyone has to start somewhere but where they end up is a different matter all together.