Beef market are criminal

[bucket]

15444

Thanks....I remember poor prices for calves and I was getting all excited about expanding the herd. In about 7 years sell it down.

Sure it's not for the faint of heart....but there is opportunity.

I figure when the banks don't lend ...it's time to get in. Missed one cycle.


There were guys buying opens for 2100 bucks and selling them as breds for 2200 in the fall....no money there a couple years back. But that's pure speculation.


I have some pasture some good producing hay and there is always green feed.....a nice easy build up with good cows to 200...then dump them when the high hits in 6 to 7 years... blah blah blah.

[bucket]

15444

Another story during high calf prices.

The manager at the auction house was looking over my cheque and saying I did pretty good. Yup and thanked him for selling them.

Then he says any complaints...nope.

Well he says... a lady was complaining that there was 500 dollars difference in their top end to their poorer calves.

I stopped him there.... 500 dollar difference...**** I remember not getting 500 a calf ... let alone the difference...

He cuts in and says ...yup you get it....

Bottom line .... those were good prices....and were to be taken advantage of.

[kato]

Highs and lows

What goes up also comes down. I don't know if it's just the numbing effect of surviving the BSE debacle, but the price drop just hasn't bothered me as much as some. When the prices hit the roof that actually made me kind of nervous. I was thinking this was so high that we would start to lose our feedlots. I know the first thing we did was stop buying backgrounding calves for the first time in 30 years. Sure never regretted that either. We decided to just take the money on our own calves and concentrate on paying down debt.

That market only had one direction to go. Down. Not the time to get all enthusiastic and crazy with spending. Far better to just carry on as if prices are low, try and control spending as if we had $500 calves and accept the bonus without running out and throwing it around like the money will always be there. May 20, 2003 was an attitude adjustment that stuck on our operation.

And what goes down will also go up again. You just have to be smart while waiting for it.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

My neighbor was borrowing money while prices were at the top, and was quite upset that the lender was basing his cash flow on more "normal" calf prices, rather than the extremes at that moment. Which we all knew were here to stay.... I think his banker did him a big favour now.

[errolanderson]

Cattle feeding economics will rebalance itself. Calf prices continue to drop, but feed will be cheap for a long spell.

Supply and demand will again sort itself out naturally without government meddling . . . .

[tweety]

Why doesn't the cattle commission spend more dollars letting the consumer know how much they are getting ripped off at the grocery store relative to beef prices?

[WiltonRanch]

Life will go on markets will go down then back up. Be happy there's lots of feed around to keep cop down and eventually breeding stock prices will decline so buying good quality for guys like me is attainable. Grasser guys will lose their grass and ass this year but that happens at least once in the 10 year cycle. I have not bought any females for 3 years and have just maintained my numbers. In fact we dumped a pile of lates and opens this spring. When guys were paying $4000 for breds you knew this market was topped out. Even guys paying $5000 for $3000 bulls you knew the end was near.
Fall calf prices started declining a couple years ago but bred heifer prices actually went up. It must be a ripple effect going on. Guys cash in previous year and then think it's time to expand or get into cattle. Those $4000 heifers will not pay for themselves if you plan to make a herd on those prices. Though if you buy a few and they raise some pisscutter females that's different.

[grassfarmer]

Why doesn't the cattle commission spend more dollars letting the consumer know how much they are getting ripped off at the grocery store relative to beef prices?

Probably don't see a lot of merit in talking down the store price of beef.

[errolanderson]

Beef prices continue to collapse this week driving the board 'limit down'. And Labour Day is one of the highest retail beef demand weekends of the year.

The drop in consumerism is now taking a heavy toll across North American economies.

[furrowtickler]

Tweety same could be said for all grains , oilseeds and pulses