This bull is not what the cattle industry wants, but it’s what the cattle industry needs if it doesn’t want to crash in the long run.

Cattle industry leaders are in the same place Boeing was in 2018…tweaking an old 1960s 737 airframe with a shiny new “fuel-efficient” engine, then doing that again and again until one crashes into the Java Sea and another into the Ethiopian high country — and we all remember what happened to Boeing’s share price and order book after that.

That’s where “sustainable” agriculture is headed without a complete airframe overhaul. A new paint job and a slightly bigger engine on the same foundation.

In my book, HERD: The Animals That Gave Rise to Humanity and Why We Need Them More Than Ever, I explore why tweaking old models won’t cut it.

Herd levels across the USA are dropping like a stone. Lowest numbers since 1951! Some say it’s because of market pressures or drought. It’s really because our land is degenerating, input costs are rising, and our cattle have become 1500 lb industrial feedstocks rather than 900 lb grass eaters.

Cattle exist to eat grass. Not give us ribeyes. To think otherwise is to miss the plot. You don’t hit the golf ball farther by swinging harder, you work on your form and let physics do it for you.

My work aims at one thing: to show that ecologically-driven breeding will improve landscapes and profits, from your local farm to global markets. In fact, it’s the only thing that will work.

Not more fuel-efficient…err I mean feed efficient cattle.

Boardrooms and ranch managers are deciding now: do we double down on comfortable half-measures? Or do we build the future?

Most will choose “realistic” over evolutionary (i.e. fear cosplaying as pragmatism.)

Steve Jobs wasn’t “realistic,” and he gave us the iPhone. Henry Ford wasn’t “realistic” and he gave us the assembly line.

Agriculture needs that courage. HERD lays out the path.

Can we rebuild the airframe from the ground up, or do we enjoy the wine and pretzels while we wait for the crash?

Link to book: https://amzn.to/3TQj70T