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Is "recreational ranching" a sell-out?

© Robin Blackburn Jerkins

Greetings once again from the southern flatlands of Texas. I've been keeping my ear to the ground around here to see if any of the area farmers and ranchers have been talking about anything other than the impending drought season. They're not.

But I did see an interesting story on Fox News in April about traditional, family-owned ranches entering the business of "recreational ranching" to stay afloat financially.

Recreational ranching apparently has a wide range of meanings. It can involve everything from being a full-service dude ranch to letting people come out for a weekend just to sightsee and be in the country. I found a good article on recreational ranching at the Abilene Reporter-News Web site, www.reporternews.com for anyone who wants to find out a little more about it.

What I'm hoping to do this month is get a discussion or two started on how you -- yes YOU -- feel about recreational ranching. Is it a good direction for ranching to go in the 21st century, or is it somehow defiling or degrading to the industry?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions about the subject. All you have to do is click on "Start A Discussion on this Article" at the bottom of this page and ... well, start a discussion.

If you'd like even more information about recreational ranching, visit GORP.com for an article about what it's like to stay at a dude ranch; Farmland.org for a short article on why some people are against recreational ranching; or Sportsmansdream.com to find out about a company that helps develop recreational sites on private property.

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