Value Added!

[cowman]

paladin: I am not against "branded products" as such. I think the Sterling Beef program has a lot of potential. I do not believe the cow/calf guy will ever see much of a benefit but the big feedlots probably will. And that is okay because they buy our cattle and if they are making a buck maybe some of it will trickle down?
This whole idea of grid selling is sort of a scam. A few years ago Western Feedlots decided they didn't want to feed any Simmental cattle. Anything that looked like it might have come within 5 miles of a Simmental bull was severely discounted! Now this was silly because solid black and red half blood Simmental calves were still pouring into Western.Which makes me wonder if grid selling is just another way cattle buyers can screw you.
Now as anyone who has fed cattle knows nothing feeds like an exotic(read that char cross and Sim cross) and they grade up there with the best. Now I'm talking about a british cow and a Sim or Char bull.
Now if you want to feed these little straight bred steers that is okay...but you'd better be able to extract one hell of a premium out of the market. And the present premium will not make up for the lost production! But if right now I can sell a half exotic steer as a straight bred and get the premium then of course I will be ahead.

[ValueChainFX]

Gotta love the challenge here guys, but check out some of the Branded programs today, (even the angus program) Stand in any processing plant and see how they pick the angus beef for that program, Hmmm wonder if the bull was Angus or not!!!! Either way the branded programs are designed as a marketing program that establishes guide lines hopefully giving some sort of consistant product at the end of the line.

Cowman said it earlier that ever product has a market and if you have a cow market and design specifications that are all in line with your type of carcass quality and can deliver that same product every time then there ya go guys a marketing program, yellow cows in their full glory hey call it "Golden Sunshine Alberta beef" age it 21 days, trim it very nice, package it pretty in black trays, and add a little extra per kg. Now you have a branded program. People have been burning these branded programs at both ends of the stick, they have almost reached the end of the line. People in the market place today are looking for real information they can trust, until we deliver that trust the rest is slowly gong into the sunset.

Rest easy cowman, you are always a steady as she goes kinda guy, you will always have a market for your product, but as long as the big guys control the price on the market, then you will always have your return based on their price and your ability to meet that by bringing your costs in under what they pay!

[cowman]

Value Chain: More and more I get frustrated with the whole system. I decided a long time ago that the whole ag system is stacked against the little guy. And quite frankly I like raising cows and I even enjoyed growing grain a way back when. But there came a time when I refused to work for free and pouring money into a bottomless pit.Why do farmers continue to work for MacDonalds wages and accept no return(or a negative return!)on their investment?
So in my case I invested in a business that would pay me interest and a very good living. My farm is in reality a hobby even though I have 150 cows.

[ValueChainFX]

Cowman

Like you the present system frustrates me. I have been in many meetings with producers over the past few weeks. I sit and listen to the discussions in front of me and shake my head to see how brain washed some can be. However, I to have been in the industry for many, many years, have worked for the big guys the little guys and myself. I know that the present system is not good and have made it my personal challenge to change whatever I can to make it better! As far as doing this with the help of the majority of the producers I have determined that those that accept the challenges will help and those that are locked into not helping will not. This is fine as one person that wants to change the world is more likely to then 100 that sit on the side and watch the world eat them up.

I am presently working on a total system that goes from farm to fork. You already know this from many discussions we had before in this forum. I guess what has changed now is that I actually have financial backing, the technology is 90% developed, I have a strong team of marketers, and most of the components are coming together well.

It will be nice when we see more people step forward as they see the system is designed to help them. Hey cowman, maybe one day we will see a fair system! I can only hope it is in our life time

Enjoy