If things go bust you can eat cows. Ever try eating gold?
Knew an old guy who'd had a really good harvest of tulip bulbs in 1942 or so in Nederland ~ in Walcheren Island (Middelburg).
Next thing you know there was a European famine, and then the military broke the dykes to drown the German army in that area, and he was living up in the roof.
He'd sell you a tulip bulb for a 1 caret diamond.
BTW, tulip bulbs are edible and he was selling them to the hungry.
Anything that can die (perish) is just about the worst store of value imaginable. There are a lot of things that can thin out the herd or totally destroy it, that have no effect on real money (gold, for example).
"Oh "Honey we're broke....all of our gold just died!"
Livestock are subject to nature's whims and are a constant gamble.
* I grew up on a farm and realize the advantages but it's nowhere near as secure as you might think. I have leaned from experience.