Top Reasons to Be a Cowboy | #8: The Purpose

Perhaps the purpose of ranching should be the No. 1 reason to be a cowboy. I think the reason it’s not ranked higher is as cowboys and ranchers we’re so separated from the ultimate consumer of our products that we lose sight of our job’s significance. Now, that doesn’t diminish its importance, but perhaps it does diminish how we think of ourselves and our job. Plus, there are some pretty meaningful parts of the profession in the unfolding seven items. 

Still, the reason we ride, rope, feed, break ice, brand calves, process yearlings, preg check cows, maintain herd health, and manage the resources we’ve been given is not for the cattle feeder we sell our product to.

No, we ranch and we cowboy so we can feed the world. That we enjoy a bit of cache attached to our duties is only an ancillary benefit. Ranching is about keeping folks’ bellybuttons from rubbing on their backbone.

The American rancher produces 27.2 billion pounds of beef annually. Our countrymen, per capita, eat about 60 pounds of beef each year. We export over 3.5 billion pounds—or 13.5%–of our production. We also import somewhere around 3.3 billion pounds of beef—mostly from Australian, Canadian and Mexican ranchers.

Every person, at some point in their lives, must ask themselves why they do what they do. Thoughtful people ask themselves constantly. People wonder if they’re doing enough good for the world and for their neighbor. People want to contribute to something greater than themselves. People hunger for significance and meaning.

Ranchers, if they look beyond their fences, can see that significance. We keep America fed. From the earliest days of the beef business in America, we’ve provided the protein that powered the country’s growth. The factory workers of the industrial revolution had to have a reliable source of energy and sustenance.

Today, America is among the top countries in terms of food security. The people working in agriculture for the past 100 years are to thank for that. Providing for a basic human need is an honor. It’s a reason for us to go the extra mile as we produce it. Whether that means improving our herd’s genetics, striving to handle our cattle better, maintaining a healthy herd, or putting more money into saving an orphaned calf than he could ever return, raising beef is important and meaningful. Thank the Lord He’s blessed us with the responsibility of feeding his creation