This is a continuation of last week’s article written by our “local” farmer, Cody Holmes. Enjoy!

Someone outside of agriculture might ask why farmers continue to do something that is obviously a very poor business practice.  The only answer I have is the same answer I give for so many of the other silly practices today’s farmers continue to do on their farms.  It is in part from peer pressure from the fact that everybody else is doing it so it must be the right thing to do story.  And this system is promoted by just about every agriculture university, trade publication, seed stock salesmen, and agriculture expert in the country.  But the solution to this problem is quite simple albeit very unorthodox in today’s agriculture world.  It is the oldest and only method for herd improvement.

We must examine our herd for our very best adult female on the ranch.  We take a quality bull calf from that cow.  We breed that bull back to his mother and keep a quality bull out of that match as a herd sire for the entire cow herd.  This way we duplicate our best cow at each breeding and cull out the bad and keep the best of the best.  Over many generations and time we produce a cow herd that is adapted to the forages and management of the ranch they are raised on.  We eventually do what is called line breeding and we have a closed herd.  We never again bring in outside genetics.  Because if we do bring in an outside bull we will begin to undo what we accomplished and in a way we pollute the herd.  This practice of herd building is as old and proven as dirt.  Mankind, particularly modern man, is always looking for a shortcut he can purchase with money to get around this system.  There is no getting around breeding and culling for adaptability.  Yes, this is very time consuming.  In fact, in most cases, particularly concerning cattle, we are talking the better part of a man’s lifetime to build one quality cow herd.  This is one primary reason why most cow herds in the country lose money almost every year.  In some things in life there are no short cuts, and this is one of those times.  The best advice to give a new livestock farmer when starting his herd is to purchase the cattle that are already on the farm when he starts out.  If that is not possible, search out for cattle to purchase that are raised on a farm as close to the young farmers new farm and animals that are raised in the similar manner he wants to raise his own livestock.  And from that point forward begin to practice line breeding and culling as mentioned above.

Much of regenerative farming follows a similar path of practices I have outlined in brief here about building a cow herd.  The knowledge, education, practical experience, etc., required to make a farm successful will take most of a man’s or woman’s lifetime.  When we do not promote lifetime career family farmers, we are destroying our own society’s likelihood for survival.  There are no short cuts.

Remember, this is one farmer’s point of view and it is important to get educated yourself instead of just taking any one person’s word for it.

Please visit our website “NEW” www.cdrnaturals.com for more information on this and other great health topics.

This article is for information only. Do not make any changes in your diet or lifestyle without first consulting with your preventive health care provider. We always pray for your prosperity and health, 3 John 2, blessings, Donna.