A little food for though

My dog Ben in the snow

Here are some simple truths:

There is no glamour in livestock farming. There is low pay and much hard work.

And livestock farmers have (and are) sisters, brothers, children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, friends, coworkers, partners, and spouses. We have responsibilities, struggles, jobs, bills, dreams, plans, hobbies, and interests. We have joys, sorrows, frustrations, and lives just like everyone else.

There are thousands of things on which we could spend our time and our money--if we had any. But we choose to put our time and our money, what little there is of it, into caring for our livestock. Animals cannot be turned off at 5pm, or on weekends, or for two weeks while we take a vacation.

Livestock needs to be cared for every day of every year.

Livestock farmers eat, sleep, and breathe the work they do, sacrificing much for it.

So the next time you're geared up to tell livestock farmers get a life, to ridicule their work and way of living, or to dismiss what they're trying to say to you, stop. The next time you're ready to presume that you know more about animal issues just because you've read about them on animal rights websites, and the people who devote everything they can to learning about and caring for the animals just must be crazy, stop. Stop and consider whether you really know what you're talking about. Consider that livestock farmers do what they do because they like animals and enjoy their company. We have to like animals to do what we do.

Consider that all the time and energy we've put into learning about animals. Three or four years at college or university studying animal behaviour, welfare issues, animal housing, nutrition, diseases and parasites, as well as years actually working with the animals, feeding them, moving them, treating them when they are sick, shoveling manure, and just plain observing them, learning their habits and their little quirks, learning to recognise them as individuals, and going back day after day even after we've been kicked, trampled on, bitten, urinated on, bruised, knocked over, or thrown in the air. Yes, I have had many trips to the hospital after being injured by my charges, but I still love them, and won't give them up without a fight.

When your instinct is to attack and ridicule, instead stop and ask yourself why we're doing what we're doing, what we're getting out of it. Livestock farmers feed the world. Without us many people would go hungry. Meat is a cheap source of protein that is still eaten by 98% of the US population in spite of efforts by some to turn everyone vegan. America still needs livestock farmers. Who will feed Americans when we have been legislated out of existance? We cannot grow enough crops in this country to provide the protein needed to feed every one. What will people eat then?

Livestock farming is not wrong or immoral. Livestock farmers care for the animals they raise, and they care for the people they feed. We are producing a food product, and we treat it accordingly. We want our meat to be safe and wholesome, and we also want to make a decent living.

If you really want to help farm livestock, why not lobby for farmers to be paid the true market value of their product? Contrary to popular belief, livestock farmers do not make a large profit. When times are good we may make $20 on each animal sold. At the end of 2007 we were losing $50 on each animal we sold. For a farmer who ships 300 hogs a week that's $15,000 they were losing every week, yet we still have to pay for power, feed, bedding, veterinary services, and transport. Is it any wonder farmers are driven to suicide?

So when you are eating your festive fare on December 25th, stop for a moment and think about the livestock farmers who will be caring for their stock before they can join their families for present opening around the tree.