callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
I didn't read all that. Sorry.Yeah... I know... and I get it. We've all got our toys... but I wonder how many cattle are raised actually having to pay for, on their own, all the ACTUAL investment that goes into "getting it done" for them... you know what I mean? Are we too often willing to subsidize our "hobby"... and still somehow call it "profitable"? Do we really and honestly attempt to account for and justify all the costs we incur to produce our product? I think it happens way more than most of us are or would be willing to admit to. How many other "businesses" are willing to do that perennially?
It's a free country... so more power to you..., and to all of us... But the rest of the business world would say..., "This is what it costs me to produce this product, and I must have at least X % return on that investment, or I simply can't and won't continue to supply you with any more product...", period.
A majority of the U.S. beef cow and calf inventory is held in operations of fewer than 100 cows, that are dependent on supplemental income from off-farm employment. And I've got nothing against anybody who is willing to work "two jobs"... or three. I did it too, for a long time... and at a time in my life when I wasn't farming...
My "beef" comes in when that off-farm job is used to "subsidize" the on-farm job, instead of the family that's doing both. As long as we're willing to continue to subsidize this admittedly wonderful, enjoyable enterprise with funding from other sources..., and as long as we continue to then willingly provide a subsidized supply of product, the rest of the world will certainly be willing to take advantage of our generosity, and will continue to be taught, BY US, to expect us to do it.
I love what I do... but I'm trying my darndest to make sure that what I raise is profitable after honestly and objectively accounting for all my input costs. I encourage all of us to do the same, or we're all going to continue to beat our heads against the wall as we go down together. It's pretty obvious that the "good years" in the cattle industry (or any industry) are when demand outpaces supply. The supply swing in cattle numbers from low to high in the last 20 years is about 6%............. My guess would be that if we refuse to "subsidize" our enterprise, and instead insist that the animals we raise HAVE TO pay for themselves or we just will not raise them, we'd lose a little more than 6% of the national herd... and the steady profit would be there... because we would be demanding it through the supply chain... "voting with our feet" so to speak. (And where opportunity presents itself, opportunists will step in and fill that gap...........................)
It's a free country though, and thank God and all the individuals that fought to make it and keep it that way, that it is. Just "food for thought"... for ALL OF US. Sorry for the soapbox..................... just thinking out loud among friends.
I get what you're saying but a hobby is usually subsidized. If you are doing it as a professional ( for a profit) imo having the right tools in dependable condition is a must.