Many people who have known me for years have always been surprised when I started wearing a beat up old black cowboy hat one day, and started talking about how much fun it would be to be a cowboy. I probably didn't have any idea what I was getting into and I probably still have no idea. It will probably strike me some day in the future when I'm literally shelving cow dung somewheres.

Right now I'm a college student, interning in the New York State Assembly. I'm hoping to have a long career in government and politics, one of the most exciting arenas to be involved in today. I also am as passionate environmentalist and want to spend as much of my free time outdoors at possible. I want to not only be outdoors but participate in a wide variety of activities.

Why Cows of All Things?

So why cows of all things? Won't having a farm tie you down and keep you from having a life? Yes and no. My goal is to have a working farm that provides:

• A place for recreation such as snowmobiling, riding quads, camping, hiking, hunting, etc.
• A place to enjoy the natural world and watch as it works – and build a better habitat for a variety of animals and plants.
• A place that offsets some of my costs by providing beneficial products for both my use and others (animals, cattle, firewood, hay, plants, etc.)

I just want to have be outdoors and have the fullest outdoors experience—including a connection of sorts to the soil that I walk on everyday. I want to be a real man of the earth, and a cowboy. I know a few head of cattle grazing a few acres of land might not be at all like the wild west, but it requires a deeper understanding of the natural world then I currently have.

Cows require a lot more effort and planning then smaller animals. They aren't something you can necessarily go into on a weekend without too much effort or planning. A farm is serious business, that many people make their livelihoods at doing. That kind of work is not for me, but it would be fun to dabble in agriculture for all the reasons I've previously mentioned.

A final reason is that I want to do more then my parents ever did. They raised dairy goats, chickens, a fairly large and diverse garden, a mini orchard with a large variety of fruits, and grapes. They did good for a while, until they got committed to other causes. Indeed, many of those crops required a lot of labor that was replaced with children when they grew older. And raising beef cattle properly managed don't require as much labor as doing all those things at once. It's a much deeper commitment I want to have then my parents ever had.

How Can A Future Legislative Staffer Do That?

I am most likely going to be a legislative staffer in the near future. That job can keep me very busy in the spring time. I also am going to be living in city for the next few years while I carefully save for all the things I want to have the future. I'm going to be living a pretty urban life in the near future. But, the whole cow thing is not just a pie in sky idea that I have. (You are free to respectively disagree.)

I have been doing a lot of reading of a variety of homesteading and farming publications, and been learning the basics of raising cattle. I've learned a lot about crude daily nutrition (CDN—used to as energy “power” cows) and crude protein (CP—used to build cows), and what kind of plants provide each of things. I've learned a lot about pasture land and management-intensive-grazing. Not to mention many people's advice on the difficulties of buying, selling, and finding a packing plant for cows.

Reading has tough me some, but I also grew up in the country around farms. I used to hang out with the Aggies in high school, even if I never expressed much of an interest in the drudgery of farm life in the past. I will study more and learn more over time. I might not have the skills that some people have, but there is nobody that's going to stop me from learning. If other people can do it, then there is no reason that I have to be different and unable to do even a fairly technical and complicated thing like farming.

I'm well aware of the difficulties of raising cattle or owning a farm today. It's very capital intensive and a massive project for anybody to get involved in without a farm or even any real farm experience. My guess is it will cost me well over a half a million dollars to get started, although I can probably downsize and spread out money. It's also also a major investment of labor that has balanced with all my other interests. To say nothing of the practicalities of marketing and selling beef, particularly with relatively few slaughterhouses around – although we are lucky enough to have Greenville Packing in Northern Greene County.

A Plan of Sorts

I have some ideas on how I will get this all done. One key will be to save as much money as I can possibility save. Too many people waste too much money on frivolous things that fail to bring themselves longterm happiness. I believe it is essential to focus on the future, and plan for bigger things. I also will always be learning, reading more books on homesteading and farming. I want to be an expert in the field, even before I get my hands dirty. I plan to always be observing the world around me and trying to learn even with the farm being distant in the future.

I realize that things will most likely have to be downsized. I probably will never have the resources to own and manage a massive parcel of land as poorly paid legislative staffer. Cattle might become some kind of smaller animal that is more practical for a non-farm kid to raise. And my own priorities will likely change. But I hope that I always remain true to the principles that have made me to explore this chapter in my life.

And yes, moo.