Why is raising beef and cattle important to farmers and ranchers?

It's more of the fact that it is, and remains to be, a way of life. Though there's no money in it nowadays, its the hard work involved and satisfaction one gets from having beef cattle, no matter if they're not getting much out of it income-wise. Raising cattle is, I guess you could say, a bit of a status symbol and it even can be a sign of respect and pride of ownership, especially if you've got great looking cattle to show off in that pasture that runs by the road.

Other things that make raising beef cattle important to farmers and ranchers are the fact that raising beef cattle is less labour intensive than raising and looking after other livestock. The cows are flexible; they can often look after themselves, and only need shelter, feed, and water to keep them happy. This is also the reason why raising cattle can be made into a part-time job or hobby. Select good cattle that don't need much help with calving or breeding or need constant pampering means less work for the cattle raiser. Cattle are great for utilizing land that is not suitable for grain production. This includes mountain valleys, foothills, and prairie land that is filled with hills and valleys that make it impossible for a tractor and plough to make a dent in. This use for land makes them low polluters simply because they are not confined to a drylot for long periods. Cows use low-quality roughages better than other livestock; horses, sheep, goats and chickens are picky about what they eat and often need higher concentrated diets with specific forages to meet their health needs. Cattle make greater use of homegrown feeds than any other livestock, with little to no need of buying supplementations or anything like that. They provide an elastic outlet for grain. When there's lots of grain, the excess can be fed to the cattle. When there's a poor crop, pasture and roughage will still be enough to rpoduce lots of beef. Cattle return up to 80% of the material they took in plant matter back to the soil, maintaining soil fertility, and in doing so help utilize soil-building legumes in those pastures and crop rotations.

There are several other reasons, but I think you get the idea.