While greenies say we should eat less meat, in my little corner of Wyoming's cattle country the trend is definitely in the other direction. Our area was once heavily into dairy farming, literally hundreds of Holstein cows were milked twice a day within 20 miles of where I sit writing this.
Over the last decade, at least, the trend has been away from dairy cattle and into so-called "cow-calf" operations, featuring breeds like Angus which are raised for beef. We've noted it is particularly true this year.
I believe few dairy farms exist in our valley today, the old cheese factory has been gone maybe a decade. A more current indicator is that the local veal operations, which relied on "freshened" dairy cattle to produce the calves, are largely gone.
Certainly, one reason for the change is the unrelenting nature of running a dairy. Milk cows must be milked twice a day, seven days a week, come rain or shine, heat wave or deep freeze.
There is plenty of work in a beef cattle operation too, but it is more episodic, with breaks during which the cattle can more-or-less take care of themselves. With fewer farm kids coming home to run the family dairy, farming beef is less labor intensive and easier for those who do return to manage.
