An Accidental Cowboy by Jameson Parker

Author:Jameson Parker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: horses, memoir, violence, ptsd, healing, cowboys, post traumatic stress disorder, celebrity memoir, simon simon
Publisher: Jameson Parker

XXVII

Cattle ranching is dying in California. It is a way of life that has lost its viability, that probably started losing its viability not long after the fifties. The price of beef on the hoof—not in the supermarket—is dropping as the cost of raising it rises. The percentage of beef in the American diet is declining as property values and taxes soar. Other states can produce beef more economically and cattle ranching is dying there, too. In a survey conducted by Montana State University of thirty-one Montana cow-calf operations, when all costs were considered, not one operated at a profit. Similar statistics come from other states too, where a combination of environmental regulations and cheap imported beef is driving ranchers out of business. (Imported beef means, primarily, beef from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and, to a lesser extent, Argentina. Of these, Canada represents about one-third of all the beef imported into America, but it receives the lion’s share of the American rancher’s frustrated anger. Why is it cheaper to raise beef in Canada than in the U.S.? The National Cattleman’s Beef Association’s chief economist pointed to a far greater grazing range relative to the population. Ranchers point to Canadian government subsidies of their northern counterparts, subsidies American ranchers do not get.) In California, there are approximately fifteen thousand beef cattle operations and the average size is fifty-six head. Yet according to the Department of Food and Agriculture in California, five hundred head is the bare-bones minimum on which a family of four can hope to subsist. Not get rich, just get by.

At the Western Stockman’s Market in Famoso I asked the manager, Ron Evans, to name every ranch he could think of that makes its money exclusively through cattle. Ron is a compact, muscular man bursting with more energy than a Broadway musical on opening night. He started ticking off the names of ranches on his fingers (a shorter list than normal since his right hand is missing the thumb, the occupational hazard of cowboys and competitive ropers) but after each one he would say: “But they own a couple of car dealerships,” or “They got oil on their place,” or “They own a newspaper.” He couldn’t think of single ranch where the cattle were not subsidized by some more dependable source of income. The Loop is owned by an independently wealthy businessman who lives on the coast. And the Loop is for sale. Even the great Tejon Ranch recently announced plans to develop an enormous chunk of their holdings along Highway 99.

(Since writing this, the Tejon Ranch has put an end to their cattle operation—and to one hundred and sixty years of tradition. They have gotten rid of all their cattle and fired all their cowboys. Some moved to other ranches. Some retired. One, the father of a friend of mine, took a job packing boxes for his son’s business. The last time I saw him, surrounded by cardboard boxes and piles of merchandises in the warehouse, he

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