“And I saw the great value of feral cats on a farm.”
You’re confusing barn cats with feral cats. Barn cats keep our barns relatively free of mice.
In short we have three categories of cats around here:
1. House cats which are pets. We’ve had a few over the years. They do not go outside.
2. Barn cats which are NOT pets. But they have the sense to leave the chickens, baby chicks, and other birds alone. Otherwise they get classed as feral and their days here become few.
3. Feral cats or abandoned cats. They show up and fight with our barn cats, get shot, and then get fed to our hogs being recycled into bacon.
Barn cat vs. feral cat. Interesting. I never noticed the distinction. But I don’t doubt you for a second. I was just a kid when I spent time on a farm. I spent more time thinking about going fishing than watching the cats!