Cattle ranchers may be shaped by time and experience, but what happens when the next generation decides to leave the ranch? How does the industry survive when its own ranks keep thinning?
The average age of the cattle producer in the USDA’s most recent ag census (2007) was 58, up from 56 in the 2002 census.
Meanwhile, the number of cattle operations in the U.S. dropped again for the 30th consecutive year, down to 922,000 operations. The bulk of those losses were from smaller family operations with fewer than 100 head of cattle.
Similar trends can be studied in our annual U.S. beef industry statistics poster, which you’ll find in this edition. These statistic posters represent some of our favorite projects here at Progressive Publishing.
The information, graphics and figures give producers key tools about their trade and products.
In a current economy driven by the growth of jobs, or lack thereof, there is ample evidence for today’s younger work force to see a brighter future in agriculture. I’m not a sociologist or a college guidance counselor, so I won’t try to pinpoint the collective career aspirations of today’s youth.
But what I do know is that our modernized world has a glamorized penchant for caring for humanity but doesn’t care much for people.
We’ve embraced technology’s global capabilities and yet forgotten about our neighbors next door. We celebrate a new “green revolution” to protect the Earth but ignore the symbiotic cycle around it that makes us closer to it.
Producers in agriculture may not live in a glamorous world, but they tend to flourish when they strive for those values and principles.
In time, today’s younger workers will see the vital importance those values have in life – and how it pays off in spades on the farm and ranch. Once they do, they’ll discover an independent lifestyle that can’t be attained with a downtown corner office.
In this issue we profile three young cattle producers who have committed their futures toward this kind of success. If you read their personal stories, you can detect their strong ties to family, heritage, tradition and progress.
They recognize the beef industry can grow smarter, safer and more sustainable. It’s clearly the kind of leadership that will help ranching do much more than just survive. 
