Raising Green Cattle

[grassfarmer]

Dogpatch - it's been happening for years - people paying a premium for grass-fed beef. Interesting point we are at in that market - you say beef is too expensive in the stores but I see that as an opportunity for grass-fed. Commodity beef price has risen substantially so now our grassed trades at less of a premium to commodity. Customers see that and are more prepared than ever to switch to grass-fed. Cost of production is less with grassed so it's a win-win.

ag-boy, so which large supermarket is selling grass-fed or organic beef and where is it sourced? I'd be interested to know. Chances are with it being large supermarket it would be produced "factory" style to keep up with demand which doesn't lead to quality.

Family farm raised, knowledge of grass and attention to detail that's what make good grass-fed and will always prevent it from becoming "commodity"

You know there was an invention a while back called a freezer? Wonderful things they permit like having customers clamouring to order your beef 8 months ahead of slaughter, then they use this invention called the freezer to store a whole years supply of beef and the producer is paid for it up-front.
Imagine that, seasonal production, lower carbon footprint, excellent product, customer satisfaction #win-win.

[WiltonRanch]

Grass I commend you on building a clientele with deep freezes who are able to afford purchasing a long term supply of beef. Problem I have with this is not everyone has enough freezer space nor that kind of money to do so. There will always be a need for commodity beef to feed everyone else. I fatten a few calves myself a peddle halves to people I know. However I quit selling as many because quite frankly most working folks don't have cash to buy a quarter. It's sad I know but that's most priorities. People who you think should be flush are no better if not worse than the guy in the old wreck of a house. These folks will go to the grocery store and buy what they need for the week.

[grassfarmer]

The freezers are easy - used off kijjiji they are $50 for 20 plus cu feet. I will say our customers have been 99% city dwellers - rural residents usually know someone still on a farm. You can't do it if you have to peddle the meat - you've got to set it up so they are actively coming to you looking for it. Peddling sounds like too much work to me.

[WiltonRanch]

I guess I used peddling in the wrong sense. All have come to me.

[johnseba]

May be grassfarmer

[rkaiser]

A bunch of interesting prospective as usual. Good on you for surviving Jeff and Grassfarmer.

Could also find a happy medium here in Canada where YES we have winter.

Cattle raised on ranched until they are close to finishing weight would not leave quite the "footprint" as a conventional feedlot situation and leaving out the hormonal implants that keep them there while they become behemoth protein widgets might help as well.

Used to be a game for the middle player and has now become a JBS game in this "natural beef" game for lack of a better description.

When Canada finally wakes up and sees the potential beyond the American appetite for ground beef while they steal our prime cuts --- with or without implants, the middle players will once again have a niche "world" market to fill.

If we don't find new players,JBS will be in fine position to play the "natural" card and it will not take Cargill long to make the adjustment either.

[WiltonRanch]

Tell me what is the extra gain from a complete implant program. So if you implant calves with ralgro in spring, revlor in autumn, background and sell to feedlot where they do their implants and feed additives. So for me as a producer to use two implants and say get an extra 60 lbs gain that's like an extra $150 a head at $2.50 a lb. maybe the extra gain is more. So you sell a 820 lb implanted calf at $2.50 is $2050. You sell a $760 lb non implanted calf at $2.60 for $1976. Roughly $70 per calf extra. When the day comes that JBS or cargill starts paying hefty enough premiums for hormone free I'm in. But my personal opinion my calves gain more efficiently on the same amount of feed with implants. I don't know much about the finishing end of things but from my days of 4H I remember those who used implants seemed to have better luck getting calves to finish than those who didn't.

Now if implants are banned and we are all put in the same boat I fear it will change the whole feeding industry. Calves will need to be fed longer to finish, more cattle and feed will be needed to produce the same amount of beef. In essence the cost per lb will increase. It's all fine if we can realize all these premium offshore markets but at the end of the day these offshore markets can be saturated by South American and Australian product which is already hormone free and cheap. The implants are what gives us a productive edge against these guys. That being said there is demand for hormone free and if the packers and consumers are willing to pay some will follow that route. For the rest there is demand for lower cost product. I don't think the folks on pink slips right now are willing to pay a whole lot extra for hamburger or roast right now.

[rkaiser]

As long as it is working for you, and makes you everyone at the Wilton Ranch happy, pump em.

[grassfarmer]

Wilton Ranch, I don't think the price advantage that can be derived from using hormones gives a competitive edge against Australian or S American beef - our climate disadvantage overrides that by far.

Reality is as you said though - the day the packers want it they will pay for it. They decide which markets to go after we only sell live cattle and play no part in that decision unless we individually decide to pursue customers seeking out grass-fed, organic or hormone free.

Overseas export markets accessed by being hormone free would only earn us commodity prices in those markets and it doesn't work at current prices.

There is a sizeable and growing market for grass-fed and hormone free in North America which could be pursued by bigger industry players but producer groups would have to get over their "but that's implying our commodity beef has something wrong with it" attitudes.

[blackjack]

In two years McDonald's claim they will be antibiotic and hormone free.