The Beef study

[cowman]

Alberta recently released their beef study that showed the packers didn't make any money. So lets see...the cow/calf sector claims it never made no money, the feedlots are going broke trying to feed cattle, the packers never made no money, and Safeway claims it never made no money!
I guess if nobody made any money then why bother raising cattle? Maybe it's time we all took up chickens or something? Let the Aussies feed us beef!
I would think, in any industry, that if everyone involved loses money that industry should be gone? What other industry would operate that way? Can you imagine the oil business working that way?
The Alberta study also decided the $400 million worked just fine and everybody shared in the bounty of Ralphs benevolence! So there it is! Nothing to complain about...good government looking out for us all!
Apparently on Rutherford yesterday some bright light suggested farmers quit whining and either get profitable or get out! He convinced me.

[ValueChainFX]

The packers never really said they didn't make money, they said they lost money! Now this could have been a loss in projected income! Willie bot told us how their yields are calculated! In the cattle industry a calculated yield and what ends up in the pockets is a little more calculated than our frind pointed out! Also we were told retail prices were lower that last year at this time. Our girl shirley said that! Shame on these folks.
According to them the money went where it we supposed to go. So I guess everyone of the people in the supply chain they thought was important got their share! Go figure.

[ValueChainFX]

Like I said in the Brian Neilsen thread; how can they even be proud of the fact that they broke even (if that is the case) when the industry lost millions?
More determined every day to never let another animal from my farm hang on the hooks of the big three,

[kato]

As long as the books are closed, we'll never know.

Our books, on the other hand are open. Statistics Canada publishes farm income figures all the time.

[cakadu]

I think the number that Shirley quoted was that $300 million went to some 1534 feedlots, so the money went to where it was supposed to go and did what it was supposed to, which was to keep the system going.

What was not said was that the 4 biggest feedlots (correct me if I'm wrong on these numbers) collected something like 60% of the money. The point being that there were just a handful that collected the lions share of the money.

I can't recall how the program was announced last year, but it seems to me it wasn't to ensure that the beef stayed moving - wasn't it something to the effect of helping the beef producers?

Since when does the party getting investigated do the investigating? A little like the fox guarding the henhouse wouldn't you say?

[k-way]

That is an average of $195,000 each not including the price of the calves, that better tan I make in four years.

[cowman]

And Linda lets also ask if the 4 feedlots who got 60% of the money, actually owned the cattle? Was the check made out to them, depositted in their accounts and they immediately cut a check for the real owners...Cargill/IBP?
I've seen how this works on a smaller scale. Back in the early eighties Canada Packers was trying to expand their cow killing business. The consistancy of product just wasn't there to fill the requirements of Wendys/Macdonalds, so they entered into a "silent" partnership with a local feedlot. They supplied the money to buy the cows, he fed them sixty days and was paid a custom feeding rate. This was done for a variety of reasons most notably CP didn't want to have to compete with Lakeside for finished cows. In the end the feedlot guy shafted CP for close to $3 million and lit out for South America. He also shafted a lot of auction marts as he was buying on thirty days credit while pocketing CPs money! I guess for once a farmer ended up screwing the packer!