BAGTIC":3h9qxzmg said:Could it be that a 'hobby breed' is any breed that is routinely sold by the animal rather than by the pound?
6M Ranch":1arl7yxh said:I think the hobby farmer/rancher label is thrown around too freely as a knock by the old timers.
VanC":34z47cz0 said:6M Ranch":34z47cz0 said:I think the hobby farmer/rancher label is thrown around too freely as a knock by the old timers.
i agree.
aplusmnt":11k0r173 said:America is the land of the free and land of opportunity so everyone has the right to raise and do as they please. But being a person that raises some cattle with what started as a hobby for my kids 4-H (but now I hope to turn it in to more of a small business).
I can still see the side of cattleman that raise livestock to feed their families. Rather it be full time or part time.
A person needs to be able to look at things from a perspective that does not step on their feelings.
I feed my family from cleaning toilets, if people decided to start cleaning toilets as a Hobby it would have a big affect on my ability to feed my family. People raising cattle as a hobby have an affect on the market value of those cattleman that do it for income purposes.
Everyone that gets worked up at the drop of the word hobby farmer should think, what is it that they do for a living? Janitor, welder, engineer, Postman, truck driver, etc......now what if people started doing those things, not worrying about making money but just because they enjoyed them. Would you be a little touchy about their new acquired hobby?
Then on top of it they want advice from you. I have had this happen in the cleaning business. A person that I know that works in a local plant bid a job on the side to clean, one that I bid on also. Then they wanted me to loan them equipment and give them advice on what chemicals would work best to do the floors. They did not know I bid the job also, but still it gets to you when you pay insurance and are trying to feed your family doing something as a legitimate business.
So even though I am a Hobby guy, by the IRS standards. I can still relate to why some people get a little cross and use the Hobby word as it is something bad. Because I am contributing to a lower market price for them, while they are trying to feed their families and I am cleaning toilets to feed mine.
Herefords.US":4p5dexpb said:I don't have a problem with the word - "hobby". Unless a person is deriving a significant portion of their net income from farming - and that income would be enough to support them and their family, it is a hobby. But that doesn't mean "hobby" has to be a negative term.
George
Why not":2tvbuzk6 said:Brandom the people you talk about are cattlemen and women. They ae in a catch 22 most work for the insurance and retirment. If it was not for those two things their would be many that would never work off the farm.
why not
KMacGinley":37q7hdxw said:Frankie is right on the money, I for one would much rather that Americans were producing our beef, even 10 at a time rather than get it from Uruguay, Argentina or Brazil. There are some very well managed small herds with quality that put big herds to shame.
aplusmnt":1a11fcl9 said:KMacGinley":1a11fcl9 said:Frankie is right on the money, I for one would much rather that Americans were producing our beef, even 10 at a time rather than get it from Uruguay, Argentina or Brazil. There are some very well managed small herds with quality that put big herds to shame.
Even if the small guy producing 10 head at a time quit that does not mean the beef would come from another country. If Supply went down then price would go up, and then those doing it as a business would most likely be able to expand and pick up the slack of the hobby guys quiting.
Frankie":2owatmb9 said:aplusmnt":2owatmb9 said:KMacGinley":2owatmb9 said:Frankie is right on the money, I for one would much rather that Americans were producing our beef, even 10 at a time rather than get it from Uruguay, Argentina or Brazil. There are some very well managed small herds with quality that put big herds to shame.
Even if the small guy producing 10 head at a time quit that does not mean the beef would come from another country. If Supply went down then price would go up, and then those doing it as a business would most likely be able to expand and pick up the slack of the hobby guys quiting.
They would expand if they could. The problem for the last 8-10 years is that producers have been unable to expand because of drought somewhere: Northwest, South Central and now the Southeast.
aplusmnt":j7z20uhz said:Frankie":j7z20uhz said:aplusmnt":j7z20uhz said:KMacGinley":j7z20uhz said:Frankie is right on the money, I for one would much rather that Americans were producing our beef, even 10 at a time rather than get it from Uruguay, Argentina or Brazil. There are some very well managed small herds with quality that put big herds to shame.
Even if the small guy producing 10 head at a time quit that does not mean the beef would come from another country. If Supply went down then price would go up, and then those doing it as a business would most likely be able to expand and pick up the slack of the hobby guys quiting.
They would expand if they could. The problem for the last 8-10 years is that producers have been unable to expand because of drought somewhere: Northwest, South Central and now the Southeast.
Around here people do not expand because it cost to much to do so. I know where land is available right now to expand but the price of cattle would not justify the cost of the land. Or at least it would be a scary venture that if the cattle market hit a bigger down slide you would end up loosing.
mnmtranching":3q5gno6w said:The beef produced by hobby farmers has little impact on the cattle market. The US consumes about 100,000 head of cattle per day from domestic supplies.
We still fall way short of producing enough beef for our own use.
Think what the price of beef would be with out the Millions of pounds of imported beef that comes in every day?
Oldtimer":vampjuco said:What would happen today--???
KMacGinley":3975kkd4 said:mnmtranching":3975kkd4 said:The beef produced by hobby farmers has little impact on the cattle market. The US consumes about 100,000 head of cattle per day from domestic supplies.
We still fall way short of producing enough beef for our own use.
Think what the price of beef would be with out the Millions of pounds of imported beef that comes in every day?
Not to dispute you, because I don't have any figures in front of me, but it seems to me, I heard that approaching half the cattle in this country come from herds of 50 or less.