Page 205 - The Welfare of Cattle
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182 the WeLfare of CattLe
The ranching landscape is a subject of almost infinite complexity. But the essence of 21st
Century ranching—and the cowboy, and the ranch economy, and the landscape of the ranch
is complicated adaptation.
Paul Starrs, Geographer
Let the Cowboy Ride
OVerVIeW OF raNChING
Ranches are characterized by a series of components—people, landscapes, livestock, wildlife,
financial resources, and infrastructure—that comprise an integrated system. None of these ele-
ments can be viewed in isolation, creating value from a ranch depends on the ability to understand
the multifaceted connections between them. However, the ranching enterprise fails if any of the
aforementioned components is allowed to remain in an unhealthy state for a prolonged period of
time. Ranching in extensive environments is complicated and unlike many downstream participants
in the supply chain such as fast-food enterprises, grocers, or restaurants, management cannot be
conducted based on a recipe model of duplication. A one size fits all approach driven by an opera-
tional manual treated as the last word would yield disastrous results for the people, livestock and
ecosystem of a ranching community.
Creating a healthy ranch system (Figure 17.1) requires the application of creativity to processes
such as strategic planning, operational management, design thinking, and development of organi-
zational culture. Healthy ranches are created when managers make decisions that take into account
long- and short-term time horizons, avoid creating undesirable consequences either directly or indi-
rectly, and ultimately recognize the interrelationships of the system as they make strategic trade-
offs in search of optimal solutions. Excellence in ranching also requires intuition and insight built
on skilled observation of landscapes, livestock, and people.
Natural
resources
Productive Profitability
enterprises and wealth
creation
Ranch health
People Community
Culture Relationships
Figure 17.1 Components of a healthy ranch system.
