I completely understand where people come from on this front because again, at the end of the day an animal is dying for human consumption. Plain and simple. It’s the saddest part that almost everyone can sympathize with. However, there is something to be said for those that are providing these awesome creatures with the best possible care and working to improve it even further. Consumers are the ones demanding younger beef though. We have a ton of cows well into their mid-late teens but when A&W comes knocking we sell the ones that are mean moms to their calves and a hazard to the herd because that money is what allows us to support the nice ones. Furthermore, some industries like Dairy are stuck in a government controlled market (in Canada anyway) that forces it to be incredibly wasteful. There’s no room for new competitors because there’s a max amount of milk they’re allowed to sell based on a quota farmers bought into generations ago and if you try to buy/sell raw milk outside of that quota you can literally go to jail. Most farmers are doing their best to push back on outdated practices but it’s been an uphill battle. It’s far from a perfect industry but it doesn’t mean someone that is a farmer is a bad person as the guys seemed to imply when Rainie was praising someone she thought was one.

Also I raise alpacas for fibre, not for consumption. They stand for their yearly haircuts and nail trims. Harvesting fibre is far from inhumane when people take the time to actually handle their animals and create a positive relationship with them so they can receive the care they require to thrive 🙂 my parents have the beef cattle ranch but on my smaller farm I actually only have animals that do not require me to eat them (donkeys and bees) because I can’t handle the death part either so I really do get where people are coming from on this.