Changes in the cattle business

[littledoggie]

smcgrath - we are extremely low cost producers. We value add as well, which worked well for us until BSE when anyone who backgrounded calves got royally beat up in the marketplace. We have tried many methods of feeding in the winter, and due to excessive numbers of wildlife and some winters that had huge amounts of snowfall, have decided that the best method for us is baled and stored behind a big fence. The one thing we are not prepared to do at our age, is get bigger. Like you say, when there's a wreck it wears a person pretty thin. So how do we as PRODUCERS (because the rest of the chain are not actually producers, but value-adders) get together to address profitability? There is so much attention paid to the feedlot and packer end - when will it be our turn?

[ASRG]

littledoggie: I would say right about now is the cow/calf guys time? When i see 600 lbs steers selling for $1.50/lb I expect that is probably about as good as it gets? And just about anybody should be able to make money at those prices? Maybe I'm wrong.
Many people think calf prices are going to rise higher by fall and they may indeed be right? Somehow I doubt it. Corn prices don't look to drop this year with the funny weather down south and a high corn price will pull barley prices higher? When does the urban consumer say "beefs too high...I think I'll buy chicken!" Remember in Canada chicken is pretty high priced due to supply management....not so in the USA?
I suspect calf prices this fall will be more likely in that $1.30/lb for a 600 lb. steer than $1.60....I hope I'm wrong!

[BTOfarmallll]

Have another one QuackGrassFarmer. 50% Wrong, HATE Hutterites, LOVE Indians.........

[ALLFARMER]

No need to apologize Burnt. You put allot of great posts on here.

The reason I am on Agriville is because I choose to surround myself with people willing to tell me I am full of shit and doing it all wrong. I hate people who just smile and nodd and agree. You can't learn nothing from them. Cheers all!!

[ASRG]

All farmer: I think the price you plan to buy bred cows at this fall is a reasonable one. I guess it depends on the fall calf prices. If calf prices are "wild" a lot of people will catch "cow fever" and forget the old adage of "what goes up, must come down"!
When(if) calves are bringing $1.60/lb or $900 then that $1500 cow looks good...not so good if the market crashes and that calf is back to under $1/lb.? Remember that cow has to raise a few calves to pay for herself plus pay for her own expenses!
I think being careful in how much you pay is a good thing.

[BTOfarmallll]

And thats why I'm here AllFarmer. Yous kin always learn a thing er two from me. Glad yall appreciate me & want me to stay, stay, stay........

[rookie]

learning how to spell with some grammar in the mix is always a good thing too ...

it may lend to the credibility of ones actual intelligence ...

[ALLFARMER]

Thanks BTO I like to learn from other peoples mistakes instead of making them all myself. LOL

With a name like Farmall you should check out the tractor museum at Westlock, very nice facility. Myself I worked for a JD dealer for 9 years so this farm is nearly all green, one W4 international just for fun. 4 2-cylinders putt away.

[smcgrath76]

ld - that is a good question. We have
invested and lost money in a processor,
and are now working on building the
direct sales part of our business (we
will see how the time vs. $$$ works
out).
I think there is no hope to move beyond
the commodity marketplace without
working together and owning the cattle
longer than is traditional even to the
point where they are no longer cattle,
but beef. As far as I can see that is
the only way to truly extract value from
a value add.
How? If it was easy, we would have
everyone doing it. High prices will
definitely skewer innovation in this
area for a while.

[Kathy]

In an answer to the original question, of what will happen to the cattle industry and all our "individual" ranches in the future? I think one important thing to ask yourself - is who is going to take over when I'm finished? How many of us have children that WANT to come back or stay on the ranch and take over from us?

Big business doesn't gauge the future in months and years only; they look at the NEXT GENERATION as well. If you don't have a family member to take over when your retired... then your way of doing business is likely finished as well. It has become a nightmare for regular guys to get enough money/loan to buy into the industry. Multi-facetted corporations and "Funds" are buying up land and hiring out the help (bringing in workers from Australia, New Zealand, etc)....

It wouldn't have to be this way if the bloody government would support small businesses/family farms. Government is a parasite. It will suck us dry and move onto the next victim as need be.

[ASRG]

Kathy raises some interesting questions?
What is the future of agriculture in Canada? Who will farm the land?
When she says "government won't support family farms"....I would comment to that..." I don't really want their support? I don't want a handout and a pat on the head for being a good dog"
What I do want is my property rights restored. I want to recieve annual pipeline rent for the land that has been diminished in value? I want annual rent on land that has been "sterilized" for developement by an abandoned well? I want annual rent for my "pore space" the oil companies intend to store liquid C02 on? I want the federal government to pay their bills for their bungling of BSE? And finally....I want my oil, gas, and coal rights back, that the government took illegally through crooked legislation in 1887 and 1913!
Give me those things they have taken.... and they can keep their piddling "support".....and they can stay put in Edmonton and Ottawa and twiddle their thumbs!

[Kathy]

ASRG, I don't mean cash payouts as "support for the family farm". Support can come from granting us freedom from regulations that bog down and cost small producers; while the larger corporations pass on costs - since they are usually vertically integrated with the packers.

There are far to many parasites feeding off of the cattle industry. Many in the paper pushing divisions make me sick with their push of any and all new technology as our saviour - when it is usually just another COST, and most often without RETURN.

Government can stop making deals internationally, that allow for foreign interests to have access to markets in Canada - without those markets having to abide by similar standards. I am not interested in all of the countries producing beef being pushed onto one protocol. If a country wants to have food security, then it should be trying to consume its own food. We export so much of our beef, here in Canada, that we don't understand or appreciate the benefits of locally grown food. This trend is changing though. If other countries don't have that food security, then they will come to us for our beef - international standards or not. A good product should need very little selling. The fact that we don't see bill-boards with pictures of feedlots, used to sell beef - should be a sign to the "industry" that what consumers want is less industrialization of their food supply, and more personal hands on experiences.

Making tax laws that allow for up-grading of farms ie; corrals, fencing, equipment, etc.. that can be fully deducted right away, instead of waiting for things to depreciate, would encourage more investment, make life a little easier, and make living on the ranch seem a little more attractive to the younger generations. Patience is not a virtue of the average employee.