I'd like to throw in on this topic and just say that I don't give a dern about stats or trends. In my area, there are alot of small family farms. Out of 20 or so that I can think of quick, there are many with children, but only 3 with the youngest generation trying to takeover and make a go of it. And those 3 include myself. I'm a rancher and cattleman, have been all my life, that'll never change. I've also worked in the oilpatch since I finished school to pay for my addictive cow habit. But everything I've ever done has always been for the sole purpose of keeping the ranch, and improving it for my kids.
Yeah, it's a business. Yeah, it's gotta be profitable. I'm nobody's fool, and I'm not gonna stretch myself or the wife with off-farm jobs to the point where we're not doing a good job of raising our kids. They come first, and the wife now does her book-keeping from home, b/c we agreed long before we started havin 'em that we weren't gonna have 'em raised by someone else. The day is comin' in the near future (2 years) when I'll be able to stay home and ranch full-time. It's taken alot of change to turn our place around, but we did it. People criticized, scoffed and joked, but when they realized that our beef was going to restaurants and hotel chains while theirs was sellin' for pennies at the local salebarn with the border closed, they started lookin'.
You have to make a profit these days, that's a given. Our society won't change overnight to make it easier on farmers and ranchers, neither one, in Canada or the US! So you have to be forward-thinking, and maybe take the blinders off in some cases, to take a real hard look at what you're doin'. This Lonesome Dove way of life we'd all love to live settin' horseback all day doesn't come without a price and alot of hard work. But, hard work comes no matter how you make your day's dollar, so I'll make mine off the backs of my beeves, and keep workin' to ensure that my kids get a fair shake to do the same when the time comes. I love ranchin', and I'll give it up the day they spread my ashes across the Battle River Hills.
For any of ya who feel the same way, don't give up, even when things are lookin low. Where there's a will, there's a way. And the iron will of the farmer and rancher is what built these 2 friggin countries. One day, our work will be more than worth the while.
Have a good evenin'. :hat: