The big deal for us this week-end will be a Craigslist ad for selling a portion of our cattle herd. We are doing this for the grass but mostly because our son, Ranch Foreman, is managing the livestock and he wants less animals as he feels his way into all that means. Although he grew up with these herds, as a kid, he hadn't the responsibility that he now feels when he's the man and Ranch Boss is in Arizona. So, reluctantly especially me) the farm has to face the reality of either finding direct buyers (my hope) or sending these animals to the auction, which I hate but has sometimes been the only way.
The ad has so far produced a fair amount of interest but not enough for the bull, Estevan, who I especially want to find a herd where he can do the job he was born to do-- be herd bull. He is easy to work around, not using his bulk to bully the other cows (as much as the cows do each other). He has been depressed, being away from the main herd (and the old herd bull, who he has connected with). An intelligent animal, he knows more than some. He is, however, horned and some are afraid of that even in an animal that is not mean. Accidents happen and that can be true with any of them with that kind of bulk and muscle.
So, I hope this week-end we have some visitors here to look at the eleven available animals (cow/calf pairs; heifers; young bulls; and the 2 year old bull). We have had good luck in the past with selling to the right buyers through these ads. My fingers are crossed that the right ones will come across it and the Benevolent Universe (wording in a dream I had recently) will bring a life for these animals, such as they have had with our land here where they both have shelter and the ability to wander in more rugged terrain with the leased land behind us. They live both wild and domestic. The work Ranch Foreman has done among them for the last nearly two years has made them very human oriented-- ideal for small operations.
As for me, I never like times of sales. I feel my personality is wrong for this work-- not hard-hearted enough to be realistic. Too many tears fall during such times, and always have. I see these animals as personalities and some of that is due to living close to them and watching their interactions. I watch them lick each other, call out when separated from the herd or their offspring. I do not see them as a product but as beings worthy of respect where some must die for others to live. When we can butcher from the land, it's perfect for me-- born here, live here, and die here.
I wasn't born here but I might well die here someday. It's the process of life whether living beings or what we consider the plant world, which might be more living beings than we think.
If anyone lives close enough to have an interest in these animals for their own land, email is [sevenoaksranch@gmail.com] or you can use mine here at the blog [rainnnn7@hotmail.com]. I know some don't believe in eating animals; but if it's done with respect and not using more than needed, I see it as a healthy part of life. Done like this, it's not corporate ranching; but as it always was-- small and interactive to the community.
4 comments:
Hope you find good buyers, Rain.
I appreciate your notion of treating these cattle humanely like you do!
Thank you, Darrell. I appreciate the hope. So far it doesn't look promising. Some interest but not anything with enough to come look :(. I fear auction is ahead. It's not a choice for big operations, which can't market direct. It looks like it won't be for us as things stand.
If more people bought their beef direct from the ranchers, there'd be a healthier world for the beef and humans. Most though are more into grocery stores with no need to think from where that meat came whether it's beef, pork, chicken, or lamb. We are a long way from living as our grandparents did-- or for younger folk their great grandparents.
BTW, after reading what California has done with refusing to allow pork raised inhumanely to come into the state, i agree with those voters. Most of us had no clue how hogs were kept-- except with the small local growers, which can operate far differently from those big operations that keep animals in pens so small that they can hardly move. Horrifying thought and if anyone likes veal, that is how it's generally kept also...
The usual blog for today is scheduled for Sunday at 10am and on hiking in Tucson back in the day I could still do it :)
What beautiful animals! I can appreciate your feelings and concerns for these creatures because they do indeed have unique personalities and feelings too many people don't appreciate, I believe. I hope they are purchased by those as you describe hoping happens.
I find the corporate farms whether cattle, swine, or chickens appalling in how the animals are generally kept. Dairy farms were prevalent in nearby communities when we moved here to northeast Los Angeles County before they mostly moved to Northern California. The farms were mostly small barren fields, little shade, just disgusting.
I hope the scientists investigating communicating with different animals do so with cattle, other animals some day, besides dogs and cats, if they aren't already. I can only imagine what they might tell us.
You are soooo right, Joared.
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