It’s a saying that’s been used countless times. “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” It’s a good saying with a good and obvious meaning. But we’ll get back to that in just a second.

Recently my husband made a trip into the city by himself. In the middle of running his errands he stopped for some lunch. He happened to get sat at a bar next to two other gentlemen. I don’t think it counts as eve’s dropping since they were sitting next to each other, but Jake happened to hear part of their conversation, and he couldn’t help but say something. These two men didn’t know each other, but were having a conversation about agriculture. Yay, right? Not so much. One of them was telling the other that everyone should visit where they get their food from to see how the animals are treated and such. That would be fine if that were a feasible option. Apparently he was under the impression that most people treat their cattle poorly and need to held accountable.

At this point Jake was stirring in his seat trying not to boil over and unload on this fella. That wouldn’t have educated them though, and it wouldn’t have helped our cause. He told me he HAD to say something to these guys though, because he couldn’t let them keep thinking that the majority of us abuse our animals. So instead, he gave them this blog and told them to hear what actual farmer’s and rancher’s had to say.

Us, just like most other farmers and ranchers, rely heavily or solely on cattle for our income. It’s how we pay our bills, feed our families, and make our livelihood. It’s hard work and there is no such thing as days off. Cattle still eat on the weekends and holidays, and they don’t care what vacation you would like to take or plans you would like to have. When it’s -10 degrees out with ice and snow covering the ground, they still have to get out and get the cattle fed and taken care of.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I do feel like I can speak for a large majority of us when I say: Being a farmer or rancher isn’t a 9-5 job. It’s not something that you “do”, but it’s who you are and your entire life. It involves your whole family and it’s something that you pray one day you can pass on to your children. It’s physically and emotionally draining, yet incredibly rewarding at the same time. It’s your life’s passion and pride and you would never not take care of what you put your heart and soul into.

When you make your living off of cattle, there isn’t much room for error. Sure, some years the markets are great and you get a little wiggle room, but most years you spend on your knees praying you at least make enough back to pay the bank and put some groceries in the pantry. They have to be on top of their game to always make sure the cattle are happy and healthy.

If cattle are stressed or sickly, they will lose weight. That is detrimental to an operation, because you get paid by the pound  when you sell them. Every head of cattle matters and even if one is sick out of hundreds, the time is taken to doctor it. We want our cattle to be happy, and we definitely want them to be healthy. If we mistreated them or abused them we would go broke. There will always be a few bad apples, but I can guarantee that the rest of us think just as poorly about that as you do. Unfortunately, the stories that go viral or get attention are from one of the few exceptions, or get twisted in some way. That’s why so many of us work to get the truth out about how we take care of our livestock. It’s disheartening to pour yourself into something and spend countless hours tending to it, just to have the world tell you how horrible they think you are.

Mistreating our animals would be biting the hand that feeds us. Aside from all of the obvious reasons are cattle are treated with respect and care, it would be a terrible financial move to not give our animals the best treatment. I love our animals and would never want any of them to suffer, but when they also are how we feed our family, you can bet that we are going to try our hardest to have them in the best health possible. If you have the opportunity to tour an operation, then I think that’s great and something everyone should try to do. But if that’s not an option, then you can sleep well at night knowing we aren’t out there beating or starving our animals.