my grandparents had a farm that I got to visit as a kid. There were cats everywhere but they were working cats. They kept the rodent population down in the barns and I guess this was good for the livestock. They weren't all friendly though and I got scratched frequently.

I did enjoy how my uncle could shout "here kitty kitty kitty" and cats would come piling out of all the buildings from all around because this meant he had a bucket of slop food for them all to share. Mostly they kept the cats a bit underfed so that they would continue to hunt rats and mice though.