subject: Raising Cattle And Trading Cattle Business - A Glimpse Into This World [print this page] Before you buy even a grain of feed, you ought to get advice from the local resources available, which include veterinarians, neighbors, country extensions and others who can give you a general overview of the work and investment in time and money involved as well as the business of selling and raising cattle.
Cattle are raised as livestock intended for meat (beef and veal), as dairy animals intended for milk and other dairy products, and as draft animals (pulling carts, plows and the like. Other products include leather and dung for compost or fuel. In many cultures, cattle possess spiritual, economic or political significance far ahead of the monetary worth of the animals themselves. As a response to these many uses and habitats of cattle, a broad array of breeds has been developed.
By 1900 the marketplace had shifted to act of kindness the use of specialized beef and dairy breeds. The Hereford and Angus came to dominate the beef industry, while the Ayrshire, Jersey, and Guernsey were the most numerous of the diary breeds.
By 1900 the commercial activity had changed to act of kindness the use of dedicated dairy and beef breeds. The generous number of beef cattle breeds - and the genetic diversity they represent - has been a cornerstone of achievement on behalf of the beef industry, allowing producers to respond to changing market demands. Yet diversity has been conserved not deliberately for the reason that of the broad range of habitats in which beef cattle are raised, the ease of access of markets, and decentralized approaches to selection. It is because of this informal conservation process that farmers and breeders have access to the diversity they required for latest production and market niches.
The pressure level of vertical integration and economic consolidation, significant in the poultry and swine industries, have cause much impact on cattle. Nevertheless, there is increment in consolidation among the companies that buy beef and milk from cattle farmers. This process is progressively having two harmful effects: The overall lowering of prices paid and the further discounting of animals which do not conform to a standard industrial type. The cattle farming industry, built upon a foundation of genetic diversity, cannot afford to let short term market pressures eliminate rare breeds and thus the diversity essential to its coming success.
Whatever your purpose for raising cattle is, you have to make sure that you are equipped with all the information you need in order for you to operate your farm and consequently gain from it whether for your own personal consumption or for profit.
