Yellowstone Got it Right!

I love the series Yellowstone with Kevin Costner because their depiction of an actual ranching operation has a lot of truth to it, drama aside, the fact that they use real ranch horses and training for their actors makes it exciting to watch!

As a rancher who loves to work cattle on horseback the series hits a high note for me.
This past episode Kevin Costner's character goes into why ranching is so hard and sometimes a futile effort; the work is hard, the weather never cooperates, the general public villainizes everything the rancher does, you can't control beef prices, the input costs continue to soar, there is death and equipment breakdowns, the list of challenges goes on.

So why do we do it? Because it is a great life! When the sun is rising or setting and your cattle are grazing happily, your horses and dogs are moving quietly to the rhythm of the herd the beauty of it all takes your breath away, nothing beats it.

We don't do it for the money, we do it for the life and it is a noble life indeed when you work hard to feed your fellow Americans.  Just look at what happened recently when the shelves in America were empty.  We cannot take this for granted, maybe now we won't.

There is a crisis brewing, a grave crisis for American farmers and ranchers because of real supply chain issues.  Small ranchers are looking at over a year to get an animal processed even if it is just for himself, forget all of us who sell in the farmer's markets. It's a troubling problem. Consolidation in the packing industry, controlled prices by a few big buyers, excess inventory that can't get processed and we are looking at a perfect storm when it comes to getting meat into the stores.

Let's not even talk about the challenges for small and large ranchers alike. We collectively have never been the type of people that expect a bailout but we do expect fairness and the time has come to realize that an abundant food supply is not a given.

Support your farmers and ranchers, they are the important link between you and your next meal!