Where will all the cows go?

[cowman]

Soon we'll be into the fall run and I suspect most of the calves will find a home, but what about the old cows? A lot of cows that really needed to go this spring are stll on the farms. Where will they go? Can we get them all killed before winter? How low will the price go when they swamp the market? Will we end up with a check or a bill?
I guess we've all heard the rumors of a "depopulation"...read that as dig big pits, run them in and shoot them! Do you think this could happen? Would it be a good thing?
I don't know what the feed situation is for most of the prairies. I do know we got more than triple last years hay production on the same amount of land! Of course it isn't worth a lot so doubt we benifitted much. I hear lots of guys are thinking $20 for a 1300 lb. bale is about right...if they can find a buyer(with money)!

[Muttley]

First off is this our dear old friend "cowman" who we have not heard from in awile or somebody new?

The prices on fall cattle are anybody's guess. We can be negative or positive at the moment as well as right or wrong.
I hear rumours floating around the local yards that the employee's let go this summer may not be coming back. Do stock yards know more than we are be let known?

I fear what may happen is that if the border opens for late fall that it may get flooded and we see a reduction in price. As for cows I would be planning on keeping them!

[kato]

We aren't quite as worried about our old cows. I guess they just got lucky. We had some late ones slated to go down the road, but we'll put up with them for now.

What we are worried about is the two big old bulls we've been stuck with. It would be nice if they didn't fight all the time and take down buildings and such with them. So far they have taken down 50 feet of windbreak fence, half of our handling corral, and broken a calf's leg. It's been a long hot summer keeping them apart, and it's going to be a long cold winter fixing fences!

[rodbradshaw]

Here in Central Alberta it is almost Christmas time before you can get an animal slaughtered at a custom facility because of the demand for people trying to sell their own beef.

Apparently Nielsens plant at Moose Jaw will be the only facility that is federally inspected that will be slaughtering animals over 30 months. All the rest of the plants will be doing under 30 month of age stuff so that it can be deboned and exported to the US,Mexico and hopefully abunch of other countries. If this is the case, then a person is going to have to feed cows for a long time or as mentioned in a previous thread, pay to get rid of them. We might have to all start mink ranching to feed these old cows to in order to make a buck (just kidding, no use screwing up someother commodity).

[rodbradshaw]

Here in Central Alberta it is almost Christmas time before you can get an animal slaughtered at a custom facility because of the demand for people trying to sell their own beef.

Apparently Nielsens plant at Moose Jaw will be the only facility that is federally inspected that will be slaughtering animals over 30 months. All the rest of the plants will be doing under 30 month of age stuff so that it can be deboned and exported to the US,Mexico and hopefully abunch of other countries. If this is the case, then a person is going to have to feed cows for a long time or as mentioned in a previous thread, pay to get rid of them. We might have to all start mink ranching to feed these old cows to in order to make a buck (just kidding, no use screwing up someother commodity).

[pandiana]

Welcome back cowman!

As to where the cows go, I frankly see few options available. Late summer and fall pasture are non-existant in many areas. There is more winter feed than last year in spots which may give us a break on feed prices, but when you have to feed another two or three months will there be enough? The drought is farther reaching, now including pockets in parts of Manitoba through BC. Prospects for feeding marginal cows for and extended period of time is going to be expensive.
I would suspect more and more cattlemen are going to be pushed to the brink with no options to sell. Maybe the big pit is the only option!

[ValueChainFX]

Cows have been at the top of the list as to what can we do with them? The boneless market for these cows is still there. The plants just stopped killing them to ensure they got certification to export to the US. However, it is like starting a new market since the customers that took these animals still have to be contacted and the sales negotiated and delivered.

The big challenge is where do we kill them? This year seems there is only provincial plants (that are booked up like crazy) and the Moose Jaw plant, not sure of their status for kills.

Have had some contact with cow guys that have said they would like to build a plant. This to me makes sense in the long run as it will provide a Federal plant that can get the meat out of the province. (Opening up Canada to all beef)

So for this year, we probably will have mostly Provincial cow kill, with some through Moose Jaw. Next year possibly have a plant that can handle some of the cow kill.

[dalek]

I still think there'll have to be a depopulation, particularly when you throw dairy cows into the mix. Shipped 3 Holstein bull calves this morning and the trucker said he never thought he'd see cull sows selling for more than cull cows

[ivbinconned]

1.My kick at the can:
2.Producers need to take control of our supply chain.
3.1.I’ve said it before. There is enough money stolen from beef producers by the packers in just over weight discounts in one year to build our own packing house. Probably $50 M each year. Plus look at the fire sale profits going into their coffers the last 3mo.
4.2.If that doesn’t happen then “single desk” selling of fats. Let the buyers come to us.
5.Take control of our retail sector, and focus more retail trade on offshore markets. Yeh you might say they can’t pay. But I assure you that if we kept our own margins in house we wouldn’t need to. You don’t need to be a “rocket scientist” to be able to sell a good product.

[cowman]

Muttley: Yea it's me. Had other fish to fry. Got pretty sick...never thought I'd see green grass! Glad to hear you're still hanging in there and coping. Tough times make tough people!
I've sort of turned the farm over to my son as well as the oil/gas service business(I really thought I was toast!).
Anyway to make a long story short, I pulled through. Now I just do the PR work(my son isn't much of a people person and I know everybody in the oil/gas sector) and fix all the junk(read that as equipment!).
I'm spending a lot more time on my garden and building things in the shop. Taking some time to smell the roses!

[cowman]

Valuechain: Has anyone ever looked at the old Canada Packers plant in Red Deer? It's been shut down for about 12 years. I think they killed about 700 head a day and had cooler capacity for about 1200. They had a boning line for cows with a caacity of about 120 head a day. It was pretty state of the art in its day. Had a steam pasteurizer, a quick chill ice water bath, and an electric shock tenderizer.
Might be worth a look?

[rookie]

Its good to hear your're back. Things just weren't as interesting without your comments.

[ValueChainFX]

Oh the best thing that has happened this year! Our old friend cowman is back, welcome home!

Yes the Canada Packers plant has been looked at several times, there are some major challenges with the building, the infrastructure and the people that own it!

You are right about being a good old plant; this is one of the main locations for the introduction of boxed beef! Can still remember telling someone in the plant as we watched this new process "It'll never last". Goes to show you what we all learn eh.

We are also looking at the Barrhead pork plant that was never finished ... time will tell what happens there. But all in all so far the best option is to build a new plant.

I also just got word that we will be able to put a lab in the plant and can test every animal for BSE. Still have the talks going on there but looks good. We are not going to wait for government or anyone else to control our destiny!
Again Welcome back cowman!

[dalek]

Last week, 3 leaders of Ontario farm groups went to Michigan and Pennsylvania to meet with US farm groups and government reps along with the Ontario minister of agriculture. During the talks on re-opening the border and about US groups supporting the re-opening, the Ontario farm leaders weren't particularly impressed to hear comments along the lines of "Don't be surprised if the border doesn't open to live cattle soon, because the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has never even bothered asking the USDA to consider reopening it for live animals." Apparently the USDA considers CFIA to be the only authority it will consider as to whether or not live cattle are safe, but since trade isn't CFIAs job, they aren't pushing it.

[carebear300]

Welcome back Cowman, sure did truly miss your insight into all the goings on in this crazy old world. We do need that extra slaughter capacity big time and as quick as possible. The only way to get rid of them old cows and you can be sure that the industry will take full advantage of the situation as long as they can and steal them from us. If things don't change it will cost more to test the carcasses then what they are worth.