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So much negative media surrounds all aspects of animal agriculture- it doesn’t matter if you are a conventional farmer and rancher, a small time hobby farmer, a feedlot manager, or provide rough stock to rodeos; the fact is, if you raise livestock for human consumption and entertainment you are automatically tainted with this “I just want money” persona. I will be the first person to stand up and try to defend myself- and like most people involved in agriculture it usually can come off as agitated and defensive. Who could blame me? When people target my way of living and my education, I have a hard time being polite and understanding of naive opinions and education of ag. We all have a tendency to come at nay sayers with facts and figures, with scientific studies and data collected, but at the end of the day all our consumers want is for us to show an emotional attachment to our animals.

I can’t say I blame them- the majority of consumers have only seen cattle while driving down the highway on the way to a family holiday gathering, and their understanding of modern practices and industry employees comes from whatever the recent HSUS video is. To them, all animals are pets- the majority own dogs and cats that live right with the family and are expected to do nothing more then great them at the door after work. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just different. Animal rights groups and certain companies are feeding this consumer miseducation, which only makes consumers trust in us fade. And we don’t do much more for ourselves by getting defensive and annoyed when they do question us.

So consumers- I’m talking to you. Recent college graduate, farm worker and job hunting ag industry hopeful is reaching out to whoever will listen: we really do like our animals. Do we love our animals like you love your dogs, probably not. But we do care for them- their comfort and health are a great concern to us. While yes, this does economically benefit us, we have been trained as youngins’ to care for all our animals, no matter what the benefit is. 

Have you ever walked through the livestock barns at a state or county fair? See all those kids prepping those animals, whether it be a steer, goat, sheep, chicken, llama or horse; see all the care they take, the time to fit, the time to feed (and even taking the occasional nap in the pen)- most of those farmers and ranchers you say don’t care were exactly like those kids in that barn. They were our first big responsibility as kids and those animals taught us what hard work and good care look like.

You know those cute photos of lambs in laundry baskets and calves in living rooms? Those animals belong to those farmers and ranchers that the media says don’t care.   If you ask around, I bet almost every rancher you talk to has brought a bum lamb or calf into their home to make sure it made it through the night (you all saw my little project from last month!)

I won’t deny it, the bond with livestock isn’t as loving and trusting as the bond I share with my horse and dog, but there is still an understanding between us. Are their bad apples? Of course- every industry has them (should I bring up the giant issues we’ve just had recently with car and banking industry?), but just because you have a few bad ones doesn’t mean we all have that mentality or act like that.

If you ever want to see how ranchers and farmers really are with their animals? Walk into a calving barn when we are doing our checks. Watch us interact with orphaned babies. Listen to us talk to our animals. Watch us as we ride through a pasture. That is when you will see how we really are.