Benefit of Cooperation

Cooperatives or “Co-ops” were formed to help a group of people with the same interest to buy products cheaper by buying in bulk. Members pool their money together and buy goods and then share the expenses in some agreedupon manner. Co-ops seem to work well, but I have never belonged to one. I buy a few things from them, and it helps the local economy. But they don’t often carry the things I need.

Before there were co-ops, people got together to help neighbors build houses and barns, plow fields, herd cattle and a whole lot more. Young and old people worked side by side learning from one another. There were not as many distractions as today and people liked the social aspect of the work.

I am more than happy to help my neighbors when I can. I have offered to help build fence, to help feed and water cattle when the owner was out of town, and much more. I have offered a few of my friends free consulting advice to help them make more money on their ranches, but they haven’t taken advantage of many of my suggestions. They say they know they should do what I suggest, but there are other issues they need to address first.

The biggest problem they often need to address is money. None of my friends have unlimited money. People get to things when they can afford it. Ranchers generally hate to take out loans to make improvements to the land. I understand that. I wish there was more I could do, but I can’t afford to.

I have been looking for more things that I could do for folks around me, but many of my neighbors do not have the same philosophy as I do about ranching. I guess that’s no surprise. Some people are afraid of organic ranching practices because they are not recommended by the leading agriculture university. Ridiculous. There is irrefutable evidence that it works where chemical agriculture does not.

Last year (during the drought) I let one of my neighbors graze his cattle on 20+ acres I was not using. They got fat and hated to leave. One thing I won’t do is allow cattle to graze my pastures if they have been subjected to worm medicine within the last six months. This is to keep my dung beetles from being killed by any chemical parasite medicine. Quite a few people want to graze my pastures, but they poison their cattle. My preference would be to help them grow more grass on their land, then they wouldn’t need to graze mine.

I really don’t want cattle that have been vaccinated near my animals, but animals on the other side of the fence have probably been vaccinated. My Dad was once told he needed to vaccinate his cattle for Black leg. He didn’t and a number of animals around us got the disease. Ours didn’t. One neighbor’s cattle had Brucellosis, ours never got it. Maybe we were lucky, but I like herd isolation and organic agriculture had a lot to do with it.

I would like to find more like-minded people with whom to work. Too many of the folks that own land and are my age don’t actively work cattle or their ranches. They hire the work done. That’s fine too, at some point I won’t be able to work mine. I’m hoping to find a younger people with whom to work.

In exploring things that can be done to help my fellow ranchers, I believe we could get together to discuss future needs, what might happen with the weather, to plan for hay baling and general farm stuff. It helps to have like-minded people to help. The social aspect is generally helpful too. Ranchers I know do not generally gather in social groups focused solely on ranching. They will join a breeder’s group, but these groups do not meet that often.

If there were enough likeminded folks, we could order organic products that are hard to find here. Compost is expensive or hard to find. Sea salt is sold in Columbus, but not in salt blocks or with garlic added for fly and parasite control. With enough members we could help organic gardeners in the area with their needs.

One of the things ranchers could do to help one another is to share bulls or rotate bulls among one or more cooperating members. It seems a waste to buy a new bull every few years only to sell him at auction as so many ranchers do. I have always wanted to start a breed adaptive for this area. It would be a good, shared experience.

Sharing equipment is generally not done unless someone is a really good friend. When equipment breaks, who will pay to fix it becomes a problem. But sharing a few small tools might help. This is when a co-op is welcomed. A tow behind fertilizer spreader is something many farmers use only occasionally, but they are real handy to have around.

If you have some cooperative ideas or would just like to meet to discuss topics over coffee, please contact me. I will be glad to pass them on new ideas to readers.

David E. Will is a local rancher and consultant. He can be reached at 830-6299876 or by email at dwill207@satx.rr.com.