Cattle trucking

[grassfarmer]

Thanks for the helpful suggestions (and all the others too) I trailered the bulls to Strathmore last night and they are getting to Yorkton on a backhaul today thanks to Kelvington Transport. Don't have a Toyota although I always admired the Landcruisers - they had the fuel efficiency and reliability 20 years ago that north American truck manufacturers can only dream about now. I've got an old GM 3/4 ton diesel with 16' bumper hitch trailer - don't know if that meets your high standards ALLFARMER or if you're more a new Dodge dually man? I've got $8000 invested in the truck and trailer and it did 16 miles/gallon on the round trip last night. That's adequate for my purposes most of the time and I don't have the time or inclination to drive all the way across the country. Y'all have a good day now - and BTO if you have your spy glasses out mine's the yellow truck with a black hood.

[Happytrails]

Good job GF and your equipment is OK with me. Can't help but wonder tho if you are satisfied to drive on the right (wrong) side of the road? Just kidding!!

[rkaiser]

As for the spring creek / neilsen merger. It is in the works. Nothing but good news for true value chains back to REAL grassroots producers.

[grassfarmer]

No probs driving on the wrong side HT, the gravel roads take more getting used to, specially when they are all potholed and washboards.

[SADIE]

Lookout when you hit our Saskatchewan roads. Likely a good move GF to meet and have your animals transported. Potholes in the middle of alot of our highways. Lots of swerving around.

R.M. gravel roads ---so many with barracades and road closed signage.

Eastern side of this province is really very tough shape with the road situation.

[grassfarmer]

On the Spring Creek/Nilsson deal isn't that a bit of a strange move? Why would NB be interested in supplying a high quality niche market? Not their usual mode of operation. Being more cynical is it a longer range plan to pull the rug from under the Lacombe processing plant and eliminate that competition?

[gaucho]

Sorry I can't help but throwing in my two bits on Spring Creek (SCR) and NB... The reality is SCR can not make their Value chain work with the cost of killing and boxing at Lacombe.... on top of that they landed some accounts like Safeway and Loblaws that are all about price.... NB is short of cattle to kill and so birds of a feather flock together.....NB wants cattle to kill and NB needs cheaper kill costs. Truth be told SCR or better yet Highland Feedlots can only get so much out of a Canadian Beef market and so its all about price... However have no worries about Lacombe Grass farmer Heritage Angus is keeping them hoping.... Export and domestic opportunities are coming in steady biggest issue is now finding enough cattle to meet our label claims and criteria.

[grassfarmer]

So this is really about the failure/dumbing down of a niche market/value chain? Bringing commodity prices to the value added sector - I can see NB filling that role but why are the retailers so price conscious on procuring a premium product? is to to pad their own margins or grow market share? I thought they always told us beef is a loss leader anyway so why the need to screw the supplier? As far as I can see this brand will go nowhere after such a takeover - if the result is to be little more than commodity price for the fed cattle entering it won't be long before cattle producers stop sending them cattle.
I certainly don't experience a shortage of money among consumers seeking our beef product so I don't really see why this niche product can't find a market at a price that returns a margin to the primary producer.

[gaucho]

Grassfarmer when you are selling direct and so you are selling with a retail margin in it for you.... Retailers commonly add 40 points to cover for their expected return and their mismanagement of their meat counter... the mismanagement is called retail shrink and includes all the marked down items and discounted product. The reality is retailers are always looking at their margin and they can make a lot more on the commodity produced product than the natural product because the commodity has lower buy price to begin with. Secondly don't blame the retailer... the consumer is who ultimately decides how much hey are willing to spend on food and 9 times out of 10 they will buy on price and hence why you still need to be competitive with a natural beef program.... that said you also need to find the right partners with which to market you beef and for me Loblaws and safeway are not it... but others have a bigger is better attitude and so that is why such deals get made. If you can sell the amount of animals that you say you d as beef... good for you grassfarmer... that said not everyone is in a population dense region.

[rkaiser]

What a good place to hide out and chat about beef marketing.... LOL a Cattle trucking thread. Bern and Kristen and the new kings of natural beef - NB will never find us here. LOL

We can call it mismanagement at the counter gaucho, but we all have challenges with management and even things that are out of our control (in our each respective minds) Our boys have cut a lot of throw away losses at the stores since we let an rather inept manager go, but there are still losses.

Employees and management can be put in to four categories. Smart and Active, Smart and Lazy, Stupid and Lazy, and Stupid and Active. Which on do you think is the most dangerous.

That being said, focusing on cancerous things like criticism, competing, or contending are not going to move us beef marketers ahead as fast as creativity.

The only people who are going to stop natural beef marketing to become commodity based are us. Keep moving ahead of those who would like to "compete" with creative ideas, and most of all price setting, rather than price taking. Let NB and their new partner flounder as they will with no true connection to the grassroots producer. This is our biggest advantage. Keep that producer in the limelight, pay him/her properly and respectfully and use him/her to step ahead of those who would like to divert consumer attention from their profit driven models.

I personally can not wait for a producer owned packing facility to give us that one last cost saving advantage that Spring Creek now feels they have. But wait is not the word. "Forge on Bravely" as on of my new cow lease operators keeps telling me. Stay ahead of those who would like to compete.

Come on down to the Calgary Stampede and have a dog or a smokie at the Second to None store at Weedickville on the grounds. If you can prove you are a direct beef marketer, I will cook it myself, and eat the bill as well.