The Importance of
he US cattle industry pulled in $64 billion dollars in 2021 and continues to be a major economic driver in many areas across the United States. But outside of the numbers, there is more. More soul, tenacity, and spirit than many businesses all bundled up into what you might think of as the Western lifestyle. The beef industry really comes down to two things: the business aspect and the lifestyle. What drives someone to buy a cattle ranch when historically it’s a tough life, whether you work and live on the ranch or hire a manager to run the business? What primal instinct are we looking to fulfill? Many businessmen and women have made their fortunes in another industry and then invested in a cattle ranch. They can often make the ranch profitable with their business expertise, but it takes lots of time and that initial investment to make it work. Then on the flip side, you have the families who have been ranching on the same ranch or have done this work for generations who don’t have a business background and survive year after year, decade after decade. They
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work nonstop, up with the sun, and often not done until it’s dark, day in and day out. After personally watching, witnessing, and participating in this great industry, there might be easier ways to make a living, but you won’t find a career that fills your heart and soul the way cattle ranching does. Cattle ranching and the western lifestyle have been a staple in the United States of America for literally centuries and in other countries, like our neighbors to the south, even longer. Often, ranches across the country became a thing simply out of a necessity to feed the growing population. The ranch I reside on was started because a wagon driver saw the need for beef at the mines for which he hauled lumber. So he found a spot in the mountains that was rough and rugged and turned out some cows. The jury is out on how long it took him to find those cows again, but he managed to do so, and that has continued in this same location for almost 150 years. There are many differences in how it’s done, but the same premise exists. Raise beef for families to nourish their bodies and enjoy. The same story arose across the country as the western lifestyle