Rancher

I saw a term the other day that really made me scratch my head. Sustainable Cattle Rancher. Now I'll admit to only being a dumb cowboy but this doesn't make much sense. Maybe I need to look up the term sustainable.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>sustainable- of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged </blockquote><br />n<br />nNo, I guess my pea brain understands the word sustainable. This is what I thought it meant. What I don't understand is what a Sustainable Cattle Rancher is. How can you raise cattle and not be sustainable. I mean early in the history of this state some of the cattle barons ran cattle in a non-sustainable way. That kind of ended though with the disastrous winter of 1886-1887 when millions of cattle died in this area. since then most ranchers have figured out how to run cattle in a better way.<br />n<br />nIf I wreck my resources, grass, by grazing it in a way that is not sustainable I will no longer be able to ranch so I won't be a rancher anymore. A cattle rancher by definition makes his life by grazing his land in a sustainable way so there is no reason to add sustainable to the name. It's a given. My family has been ranching on this land for almost 100 years and we damn well wouldn't still be here if we weren't doing it in a sustainable way. The thing is I don't know of anybody that is raising cattle in this area in a way that is not sustainable. It would be a damn poor business model if they did. If you want to stay in the business you don't abuse the land, you love it and take care of it, just like you love and take care of your critters.<br />n<br />nSo why would this person describe themselves as a Sustainable Cattle Rancher. Political correctness maybe or does it sound more green and will make the environmentalists happy? I don't know for sure but i think it is stupid if you ask me. Be proud of what you are, a rancher. I am. I grow excellent quality beef to feed people. I do it year in and year out no matter the weather or the conditions. I don't need to add anything fancy to it because it says it all.<br />n<br />nI am a Rancher and I love it and I'm not afraid to say it. Why was this person that I am speaking of?<br />n<br />n<strong>I wanted to be a cattle rancher when I was young, because it was what I knew and I loved it. Sandra Day O'Connor </strong>