Market Farming

["jay gee" <jgj23 AT mindspring.com>]

Rick Williams wrote:
>>>>
 It would not be up to cattle ranchers if you had brucellosis present in a
 herd of any ruminant. They are always killed as soon as possible to stop the
 spread of the disease are they not? It would not be singling out buffalo.
<<<<

As I understand it, there are a number of different strains of the
brucella bacterium, each indigenous to the type of animal it infects.
Cattle have one , pigs one, sheep one, etc.  Apparently there is
a strain associated with bison.  BTW, the pig strain has no effect
on cattle.  The argument by cattle ranchers has been that because
bison may carry brucella, they are a danger to cattle and because
bison are too wild to be vaccinated, they should be destroyed.

This applied to a herd of bison grazing on public land which a
cattle rancher wanted to lease and wanted no contact among
the species.

I wrote
 > If you raised bison instead of cattle, your crop would be able
 > to defend itself against the wolf.  I don't think domesticated
 > cattle are hardy enough any longer to stand up against a serious
 > natural predator.
And Rick responded: 
>>>>
 Well it was never possible for sheep and goats to stand up to wolves. And I
 doubt that it was very easy for cattle if they were calving or were young
 ones that could be taken out. Dairy cattle would never have had it too easy
 and we also usually dehorn cattle or use polled breeds. But I don't think
 that this has much to do with an argument for the introduction of wolves to
 an area.
<<<<

Did I say anything about goats or sheep?   Dehorning cattle is for the
safety of the rancher and to prevent other cattle in the herd from
being wounded in turf disputes.  It's about saving product to make
money.

Rick Williams also wrote:
>>>>
 The first rule of sustainability in agriculture is ... is it economically
 possible. It is nice to "work with nature" when it is possible to do so, but
 you realize that much of what we call farming is to do things contrary to
 what nature wants. Even with our grazing of livestock, which is much closer
 to a natural way compared to say garden cropping or row cropping, we still
 try to manage things to benefit ruminants over what nature might want.
 Things like weed control, clipping, erosion control, lanes, etc.
<<<<

Nature was growing all the plants and animals in greater abundance
than now, long before humans came on the scene.

I realize all too well that much of what you call farming is contrary
to the way Nature works.  I think that is part of your problem.

In particular, the average pasturing farmer runs too many head of
sheep, cattle or whatever on the ground they possess.  Nature
does not observe property lines in the sense we do.

Nature is quite indifferent to your plight as a farmer.  Nature is
infinitely stronger than you are, either as an individual or in
cahoots with your FB.  Stop trying to fight Nature.

Once you learn to emulate Nature, your chances for success
go way up.  Until then, the best you can hope for is breakeven.

Of course, that's just my opinion.


Jay Gee
not a farmer -- but interested in farming