The Life of a Cattle Rancher Isn't Something From the Movies

There are still cowboys in Texas and the rest of the Midwest, but they don't necessarily play football. It's a lifestyle that is unique to the Midwest. Cattle ranching has been significant to America since long before it became a country. It's a lifestyle that has been romanticized and has even spawned hundreds of movies and an entire genre of country music. So what do cattle ranchers actually do? Yes they wear cowboy hats and know how to ride a horse, but the industry has gotten a lot different since the first European settlers began the industry in America.

Many mid-westerners, especially in Texas, make their living in the cattle ranching industry. Most are in small towns that dot the Texas land, far away from the metropolises of Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, Ranchers typically own a lot of acres and there is not a lot of fancy houses or nightlife in those areas. The ranchers are simply there to make money and do something they love. It is not unusual for a cattle rancher to have more than 1,000 head of cattle at the same time.

The typical rancher goes to sales and tries to move his cattle or purchase more. In the small town of Nixon, Texas, there is an auction every Monday morning and that is not considered unusual. There's a lot of work that goes into cattle ranching. For all of the new cattle, there is the process of branding the cattle and marking the ears of their new cattle. Winter time can be tough because there isn't a lot of grass to graze, so cattle ranchers have to improvise. There's the task of keeping control of more than 1,000 cattle and making sure they are all healthy. Vaccinations take a lot of time.

Besides that, fences need to be kept safe and maintained, and it costs a lot of money to keep the tractors and farm equipment up to date and in running condition while keeping an eye on a large parcel of land. Then, there are the horses that need to be tendered to. Most ranchers ride horses around their tracts of land to tend to their cattle, And that workday usually starts long before the sun comes up. The horses and cattle rule the day and they typically wake up earlier then the 9-to-5 office workers. Rebuilding pens and doing general maintenance takes up a lot of the day, not to mention worming their cattle at least twice a year.

Being a cattle rancher can be a lucrative career. Young cows can sell for as much as $1,600 on the auction block. Most cowboys who ride the range reigning in their cattle look at cattle ranching as a way of life. It's not an easy life, having to feed and tend to so many cattle, but most cattle ranchers say that their way of life isn't something they would trade for anything else.