Whats the outlook for new comers entering the beef industry

[Littlejon]

Hello there from England. I know you guys are having a hard time but over here the industry has gone mad. Profitability is none existant yet store cattle are making only a fraction less than finished prices-so no profit for the finishing boys! So not a very good time to buy. We see no future after the Commmon agricultural policy reform and as i am just leaving university are not going to be investing in farming in the UK. Would Canada be a better choice? How many head of cattle would you need to run say along side some grain and sheep to make any profit if you had no debts? Do any of you see a future, as we bounced back after BSE, Foot and mouth but only to be hit by more red tape and the fact that the government don't want farmers is making me look else where. Any helpful comments would be gratefully appreciated. Talk to you soon. P.S Its really interesting reading your forum

[kato]

I think there's a future here, though some may disagree.

Before you invest any money, though, come over and work on a cattle ranch or in a feedlot. If you have cattle skills, jobs can be found. That way you can see first hand what life is like here before making a total commitment.

We have neighbours from England who sold out and came over. Luckily they like it here, but if they hadn't, then they would have been stuck here with no way back.

Best thing is to see it for yourself.

[grassfarmer]

Good advice KATO, get some working experience here first.
I moved here from Scotland in Fall 2000 and love it. Plenty of problems here too, just different ones. Weather and lower land productivity due to climatic differences are the biggest thing to hit me. I love the opportunities there are here and the freedom to do what you want and for me that is very important. I don't think sheep will be worth bothering with, this is not sheep country and there is no industry infrastructure for them.

[cowman]

Littlejon: Sure come on over! You have gotten very good advice from kato and grassfarmer about taking it easy and not betting the farm on an "ag-adventure"! Come and test the water first. Never hurts to learn from the "natives"!
I suspect eventually things will straighten out here and Lord knows we need some new blood!
You actually have some advantages by coming here...first of all you speak the language!
Canada is fairly "unrestricted" by a lot of the silly things the EU is imposing on the farmers, although our politicians are trying hard to do their best!
I have to agree with grassfarmer about the sheep! The coyotes just love to eat sheep here! And in saying that I hope I won't offend Linda(cakadu) but the fact is the darned coyotes can pretty well make sheep impossible?
Anyway if you come keep in touch. There are a lot of UK people here...even old ones like me who are three or four generations removed!

[cakadu]

No offence taken about the sheep, cowman, it is a sad fact that comes along with the territory. "Eat lamb - 10,000 coyotes can't be wrong". Ever since fur became unpopular the coyote populations have exploded. With a good livestock guardian dog the lossess are generally minimal.

The sheep industry is harder to make a go of here, particularly if you are in the commercial end of things - we raise hair sheep and direct market so we are in a different position - but having said that though, this last year of no movement across the border has hurt things in terms of being able to find kill space and slightly more competition in the direct market arena, which should subside once the border does open. Boneless lamb can go across to the U.S., but lets face it, who buys boneless lamb? The rack isn't the rack without the bones.

There is no wool industry here to speak of - prices have been such that it didn't really pay to get the sheep shorn - but I haven't followed wool prices too much lately so that may have changed. We don't have breeds known for their wool quality and the correlation between meat production and wool quality is a negative one.

The other advice you get is very sound and I would encourage you to "try before you buy"!

[bbattist]

We would welcome you here to Nova Scotia. The industry is no brighter here than in rest of the country but I believe we need some new blood and ideas here to revitilize it. We don't have the large acreages here as in western regions but grasss grows without too much difficulty and land prices are reasonable. As for sheep we to have coyotes but with proper management the problem can be controlled. The advice you recieved from the previous folk on coming over and working on some farms for a period is good advice. Wishing you well on your career decisions.