Farmer's Of Cattle Farm

I was really excited to read the article “Power Steer” by Michael Pollen. I’ve seen several of his books at local book stores, as well as different television shows featuring his work. The purpose of Michael Pollen’s article was to educate himself and others on the process of producing industrial steak in America, and making a financial profit along the way. He felt that “Ignorance was no longer tenable.” In doing so, Michael decided to purchase an 8 month old calf numbered 534 for $598. This totaled $1.60 a day for room and board due to the cattle not being weaned yet. Throughout Michael’s educational journey, he was able to learn about the different problems associated with animal feeding operations. This includes health problems that cattle could cause to humans, such as

1 Farmers may not totally understand the product value. They may not easily accept new product that they have never heard about.

The cattle industry started to rise after the American civil war. This was due to the increase of cows in Texas as cows weren’t fenced in. A man called Joseph McCoy soon came up with the idea of the cow town of Abilene, where Northern buyers could meet up with Southern sellers where they were on equal footing and couldn’t be attacked by Indians. Abilene was built on the Kansas Pacific Railroad. This made it easier to transport cattle bought to the cities in the East like Chicago. By 1870 300,000 cattle were being bought and sold in Abilene. Cows that were sold in Texas for $5 could be sold for $40 in a cow town. This helped the cattle industry rise as it meant more people would sell their cows and gain profit. This then developed even further as the railroad was moved westward which developed other cow towns such as Dodge city and Kansas because it meant there was more places where you could gain more profit for selling your cows.

October 15, 1934 was a very dry year we had less than 10 inches of rain from January 1st to October 1st 1934. With the lack of rain my crops did not grow well at all. Not only did my crops not grow well but I only harvested 500 bushels of wheat… Which is less than the 2,800 I was expecting to harvest, and now we only 500 gallons of potable water left. I don’t know when it will rain again but winter is near and I need plan to provide for my family. Not only do I need to feed my family but I have male bull and female Jersey cow. I need to be resourceful here. I had now decided to eat the bull. Keep the cow alive but don’t feed it, drink the cow's milk, once production ceases, eat the wheat.

the farmer only eats what he can afford to eat. He has to sell most of

This article written in the Texas Agriculture, a magazine published by the Texas Farm Bureau, is about all the factors impacting farmers that effect their income. Over the past couple years, a combination of things has caused the average Texas farmers income to drop. The primary audience for this article is the farmers in Texas as they are experiencing these issues first hand. The secondary audience would be consumers who have noticed price fluctuations in products at the store and are wondering the reason.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is a trade association and policy group that represents all segments of the cattle industry: producers, feeders, and breeders. The association has over 28,000 individual members and represents over 230,000 people in the industry. The current president of NCBA, Scott George, is a cow/calf producer from Wyoming with a long history in the dairy industry and policy groups as a member of the Farm Bureau. In addition to its role in U.S. policy, the NCBA conducts research, marketing, and promotional work for cattle ranchers. The NCBA’s vision is “an industry united around a common goal of being the world’s most trusted and preferred source of beef and beef products.” The economic interests of the cattle

Preview: Due to this trend we are seeing the aging of American Farmers and the spreading of misconceptions in our society.

Every year, an average American will consume approximately one hundred-twenty six pounds of meat. This meat can be traced back to factory farms where the animals are kept to be tortured to turn into a product for the appetite of humans. The terrible treatment these animals are forced to endure is the outcome of the greed and want for a faster production of their product. The industry of factory farming works to maximize the output of the meat while maintaining low costs,but will sadly always comes at the animals’ expense.

In the Shenandoah Valley near the border of Virginia, Joel Salatin and his son Daniel, accompanied by two farm hands, run “one of the most productive and influential alternative farms in America” (Pollan 126). Polyface Farm is rather unique in its business tactics as well as agricultural practices. The only way to eat products from Polyface farm is to live next to it. . .or within a half-day’s drive. Joel Salatin is a firm believer of “relationship marketing” wherein the only way to ensure integrity is to meet the man who raised your meal (Pollan 240). Farms like Joel’s are often forgotten or considered to be at the bottom of the socioeconomic food chain, yet customers come back every single week to pick up the food that they know has been humanely raised and is not tainted by the farcical regulations (or lack thereof) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Joel claims that “the only genuine accountability comes from a producer’s relationship with his or her customers, and their freedom” but his business is hindered by the “disconnected multi-national fecal factory” that is the American food industry (Pollan 235-241). Joel wants to be able to do more for his customers, and he’s fighting the system so that he can. Eventually, Joel would like to cure, or even smoke, his meat so that his customers have even less work to do, but the USDA regulations prohibit curing/cooking meat on land designated only for agriculture (Pollan). If the USDA were to modify its

The author uses firsthand knowledge and personal experiences to find common ground with the opposition and turn the finger at the cattle industry instead. Furthermore, her down to earth style and descriptive language establishes her ethos and makes her argument more persuadable. Hasselstrom was successful, in spite of her bias, because she defined her principles, educated the uninformed, and unified the involved parties so solutions ways of thinking could

Organic ranchers and dairy farmers in California also feel the effects of the drought. They rely on green pasture to feed their animals a healthy diet. Due to the lack of rain, the pasture are drying up and the ranchers have to purchase supplemental organic hay from other states. In an attempt to fund the purchasing of this out of state hay, the organic farmers are selling herds to businesses for hamburger meat and the small

The owners of the farm have found a correlation between the weight of a cow, and the cost of feeding it, in

When we mention about farm, most of us have this image of a vast green pasture where farmers spend most of their time herding livestock but that idyllic picture is just a thing from the past. Since the 1930s in America, small farms started to wither away, made way to bigger and highly mechanized factory farms. It all traced back to McDonalds and the booming of fast food restaurants (Food, Inc 2008). Fast food restaurants had become successful because they could produce tasty food with cheaper cost. Their franchises eventually made them a multi-million-dollars industry. Big business required big suppliers. Small rural farms cannot meet the demand for supply and they quickly fade away. Farmers were being replaced by corporations in

My entire life I have been on the farm with my dad and grandpa. When I was too little to drive the tractors I would sit and just ride around with them. Now that I am old enough to drive them, I have a lot of experience, and as a farmer working with your family and friends you hire you can take some days off if needed without getting in trouble.