So please tell me, who's getting rich on the cow?

[wbvs58]

According to our local rural newspapers, our processors are operating at a loss at the moment. With our high cattle prices and most of our product exported where they have to meet the market. They keep going like that to maintain their skilled workforce and keep plants operating. Their time will come shortly when the cattle herd is back up in numbers after the drought and they will be able to source cattle at more realistic prices and their margins are more favourable. I don't expect to receive any sympathy from them when their time comes. Retailers are the ones that never sacrifice their margins. They do alright no matter what the market is like. The likes of Aldi are masters of deception, they buy all the old cow meat, try to make out it comes from a reputable producer with environmental credentials, spray it with plenty of water to increase the weight along with a bit of colouring and then seal it in watertight packaging so you don't lose that extra water, put the fancy name on it and sell as Banrock Station Beef. In my opinion Aldi are just Black and Gold products repackaged in similar style, colour and name to reputable brands in all of their products but they deceive the public well.

Ken

 

[farmerjan]

It might be literally "cool" to sit in an air-conditioned tractor cab... but when you do it all day, for hours on end, especially in areas where the ground is rougher, not flat endless acres, it is no picnic. You are farming more acres so putting in more hours to try to make the costs spread out over a greater area to make it pencil out.
You said yourself that you are not about to don overalls and pick beans all day long.... don't complain about the costs when someone is doing it FOR YOU.....

 

[Ky hills]

It might be literally "cool" to sit in an air-conditioned tractor cab... but when you do it all day, for hours on end, especially in areas where the ground is rougher, not flat endless acres, it is no picnic. You are farming more acres so putting in more hours to try to make the costs spread out over a greater area to make it pencil out.
You said yourself that you are not about to don overalls and pick beans all day long.... don't complain about the costs when someone is doing it FOR YOU.....

Agree, and not all of us have cab tractors either.

 

[farmerjan]

My son has the cab tractor to mow with the discbine... for safety reasons among other things... with the possibility of a knife blade being thrown off the mower... as we had one happen a few years ago and busted the back glass... and for his being able to breathe while running the round baler. I do not have a cab on the deutz that I use to bush hog with, no cab on any of the tractors that I tedd hay or rake hay with ... ford 4600 and 6600... rake little fields with the OLD FARMALL H, narrow front end... steel seat... no power steering.. but very maneuverable in tight small fields with a single side delivery rake (roller bar).... I do this because I really like being a "farmer" even with the less than wonderful conditions... and I worked full time at several jobs too....
Many - most - of us don't have the most modern equipment and the ones that have the newer equipment have to put in alot of LONG hours to make it pencil out... and they take care of their stuff...But our equipment is all paid for right now... and thank God for that because the cost of fuel and all the fluids we have to use for maintenance are costing twice what they were. It is not all Norman Rockwell idyllic ....

 

[Travlr]

This is supposed to show how the money has been split historically between cow-calf, feeders, and packers.
1996 was not good for cow-calf. 2014/2015 were very good.
1998, 2015/2016 were bad for feeders.
Looks like historically, packers have had lower margins than most sectors, but are making up for it in the last few years.

View attachment 15484
Here is also some information from the North American Meat Institute - might be biased, but info non the less.

That pretty much says it all. The number of foreign buyouts in the packing industry are unbelievable. What the hell is wrong with us for allowing that kind of crippling change in ownership?

 

[Dave]

Wal-mart sells what people buy. That supply and demand thing. If people did not buy it, they would not be successful and would go out of business. The consumer has influence on what they sell and somewhat where it is made.

Of course Walmarts business practice put a lot of small local business out of business. Once you are the only source of supply the demand for your product goes up.

 

[Dave]

It might be literally "cool" to sit in an air-conditioned tractor cab... but when you do it all day, for hours on end, especially in areas where the ground is rougher, not flat endless acres, it is no picnic.

I just got off my open station tractor. I was out to the stack yard getting a bale to feed the yearlings in the corral. That stack yard is a good half mile from the corral. As I pulled in there a snow squal hit. It was pretty cool driving back up the corral. There are some people who would think it was down right cold.

 

[Travlr]

And that was BLACK ANGUS Porterhouse, not Hereford or some other cheap breed. 25 years ago. Does the packer cook and season that $15+ deli roast beef?

HA! You talk like you really believe the Certified Angus label actually means the meat in the package is angus.

Once the hide is removed it could be anything as long as it grades. And half of the black hides are not angus anyway... or at least crossbreeds.

It's been a productive marketting campaign for people with black hided cattle but it's hurt the entire industry.

 

[farmerjan]

Herefords make VERY GOOD BEEF... as do our Red Poll cattle... so calling them cheap is just another dig that is wrong... they may be cheaper at the stockyard... but most of the beef we market directly is NOT BLACK... and have had people tell us it is the best they have ever eaten....

 

[Ky hills]

Herefords make VERY GOOD BEEF... as do our Red Poll cattle... so calling them cheap is just another dig that is wrong... they may be cheaper at the stockyard... but most of the beef we market directly is NOT BLACK... and have had people tell us it is the best they have ever eaten....

I can say the same, we purposely select Hereford or Hereford looking calves from our herd for our beef, and sell the black ones. I'll put our Hereford beef up against any Angus any day. We've had both Angus and Hereford processed and both are great and no difference that we have seen taste, texture, or marbling wise. We have also have repeat customers that have been very complimentary of the Hereford beef.

 

[burroughs85]

It might be literally "cool" to sit in an air-conditioned tractor cab... but when you do it all day, for hours on end, especially in areas where the ground is rougher, not flat endless acres, it is no picnic. You are farming more acres so putting in more hours to try to make the costs spread out over a greater area to make it pencil out.
You said yourself that you are not about to don overalls and pick beans all day long.... don't complain about the costs when someone is doing it FOR YOU.....

I wasn't complaining, I thought I had stated I was mighty glad for that cheap Mexican labor.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Here is some interesting info from an article in our NY Angus Assn. "Certified Angus Beef/Behind the Brand" by Abbie Lankitus, CAB Communications Specialist
"Only about 3 in 10 Angus-influenced cattle meet all of CAB's science-based standards.
The initial threshold to qualification is simply Angus influence with black hide behind the shoulder, above the flank and in front of the tail head. --- each one is evaluated by a USDA grader and must meet all 10 carcass specifications.
Of all the Angus-identified cattle, only 36.,8% made the cut last year. The four biggest disqualifiers are (1) not enough marbling, (2 & 3) out-of-range ribeye size or carcass weight, and (4) back fat thickness of more than an inch.
Of those 4, more than 80% fail for lack of marbling."

If I were an Angus breeder, I would not want to be publicizing that info.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Of those 4, more than 80% fail for lack of marbling."

For a certain % of those cattle it probably isn't their fault. All the British breeds and most of the continental breeds have the potential to grade choice. It all depends on how they are fed and how long they are fed. Prime takes Time.

I wonder what % of those cattle that make CAB are really Simmentals? I bet it's higher than most would think.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I wonder what % of those cattle that make CAB are really Simmentals? I bet it's higher than most would think.

About half locally are really CSB.

 

[Son of Butch]

Someone will sell you eggs from their backyard flock for $2. Buy from them.

Go to the closest meat locker and buy a bundle. Won't be any higher than Wally and much better quality.

Ah no... back yard flocks don't also sell out?
Make a special 10 mile round trip just for eggs? ahh no

How is a USDA choice steak from Wal-Mart lower in quality than a USDA choice steak from the local butcher shop? (owned by my cousin)
(again a special 20 mile round trip for single items)

 

[chaded]

Crap, better sell my angus herd. Just got them too.

 

[1982vett]

But then what would we do with all that hay?

Turn it into ethanol and screw the corn farmer....

 

[Ky hills]

The choice beef that can be bought at retailers is usually good. That being said, beef that has been finished out well by individuals, is significantly better. Everybody that has had our beef has commented on how good it was in comparison.
I have heard of more than one person who cannot eat store bought beef, yet they can eat beef fed out by an individual without issue.
We have chickens too, and same story, people say how much better the eggs are than store bought.
It's not uncommon for people to drive quite a ways to get farm fresh eggs.

 

[Ky hills]

I wasn't complaining, I thought I had stated I was mighty glad for that cheap Mexican labor.

Was at a farmers market meeting once, where someone made a statement similar to that, in regards to the bigger farms using Mexican workers. My wife took that personally and told them she was her Mexican worker and were they saying she couldn't be a part of it because of that.

 

[Dave]

I wasn't complaining, I thought I had stated I was mighty glad for that cheap Mexican labor.

As a kid I was raised in an area with lots of berry and vegetable farms. There wasn't any "cheap Mexican labor" in those days. Kids 10-16 years of age picked the berries and worked on the farms. The bigger farms had old school buses that they drove on routes to pick the kids up. It was good for the farmers and good for the kids.