|
New Mexico | The small time SW animal raisers ( Pueblo and Haciendas ) are much the same as the quail hunter type Mississippi Valley to E Coast and Florida growers.
They've got a little land....NO cost in it...been in their family for say 500 years.
In another 500 years same land will still be in the same family hands...raising just a few head of livestock.
( land down here in the SW areas of the ancient cities has been in families for over 4,000 known years now ....and probably longer than that too )
They run say 7 to 27 cows, or 100 sheep and goats etc.
Meat or livestock sold is simply dollars generated off the land which would be otherwise not generated.
The animals been in these types of operations for several generations too.
Other areas of the World it's much the same.
Yes, there are a mere few larger corporate type operators ( right at 25 of em on the globe ).
BUT, the bulk of Cows which produce feeder cattle Worldwide are owned and controlled by "one horse" operations so to speak.
The smaller operators have a huge advantage.
They have essentially NO ( or very little ) REAL cost of production.
And thus they do not have to waste time suopposedly worrying about that either.
Nicest thing about small time livestock production is, that IS the lever which ultimately keeps the larger operators somewhat honest so to speak.
Lot's of "off grid" livestock harvest, and plenty of unknowns as to what's out there in real numbers of livestock too ( basically remote enough that the USDA cannot contaminate it in any way shape or form ).
Also quite a few larger operators with NO real production cost in some areas of the country.
Heck if Your primary deal is say hunting income and or minerals too ( or even jockeying stocks / derivatives on Wall Street ), it's always nice to have few or a few thousand sheep and cattle around just to supposedly spend a little dough on.
| |
|
cost to keep a cow
