Trucking problem?

[grassfarmer]

I hear lots of talk on the radio that we don't have enough trucks left to haul cattle into the US. How real a concern is this though? presumably the Americans have a few cattle liners too? I guess that if the price advantage is there to haul live cattle into the US new trucks will be bought whether it be by US packers, US feedlots or Canadian entrepeneurs.

[rkaiser]

Don't think there's going to be a big problem. I guess we'll see how much of a change this makes in the kill lines at Tyson. Right now the fat kill is very close to supply, so I don't know were everone thinks all these fat cattle are going to come from for the south bound trucks.

Feed is cheap in Canada, and we still have space in the feedlots. Grass won't be far off by the end of March. I would say that this could mean a light run of feeders heading to the good old US as well. Watch the big boys use some of their war chest to by up even more Canadian cattle and keep them right here for their new expansions.

The key will be the cows. If there is potential for a good run killing cows and shipping them boxed across the line, then my predictions will be altered.

[PureCountry]

Personally boys, I think those boxes of cow/bull beef will be the only thing looking for extra trucks. The glut has been cows and bulls, and if boxed beef can go south, I think they'll be looking for every reefer they can get their hands on.

And for the sake of cow/bull prices, let's hope they find enough.

[WoolyBear]

As long as the temperatures stay where they are at -25 plus wind, then a lot a that beef could go south on a flatdeck

Dang its cold in the wind <GRIN>.

[cakadu]

Too true about the wind Woolybear. At least when it's -35 with no wind, it doesn't feel too bad. Add that wind and no amount of layering keeps you warm for long.

I'm posting this little article here and wonder if the fellow who wrote it has any idea of what we do for the animals not only in the winter, but year round as well.

Not quite vegetarian
January 1, 2005
New York Times
Jon Camp of Highland Park, N.J., outreach coordinator, Vegan Outreach, writes that as a full-time animal advocate, he sees the notion of "flexitarian" - defined as "a person who consumes mainly vegetarian food, but occasionally eats meat or fish" (Week in Review, Dec. 26) - as a definite boon for animals. Farmed animals endure unfathomable misery on today's factory farms and in slaughterhouses. Flexitarians offer a great alternative to those wishing to reduce this suffering but who see the immediate switch to vegetarianism or veganism as too strict.
To me, eating vegetarian isn't about being perfect or pure, but about reducing suffering. Even if we just cut our meat consumption in half, we would be reducing half of the misery of today's farmed animals.

[Muttley]

Seems to me I go to the table to eat, but yet I take the cows their food. I bed them in straw so deep yesterday some were hidden under it.
I had to go to the pharmacy to get vitamins cause the doctor says I'm lacking something, yet I lay out vitamins and minerals for the cows and they barely use it(means they are not lacking like me)

I have a heated barn for calving, and every cow gets under a roof at night and during a storm.

I hate it when people say livestock suffer or are treated poorly. For gosh sakes they are meant to be out doors, and I am meant to be in.

I am now going to go to town and do my share to rid the world of these beasts and the farmers of the world, PASS me the hetchup for my steak and eggs please.

[cakadu]

At times the animals are treated way better than we are because I am the one out there 2 or 3 times a day making sure that they have feed in front of them at all times during these cold spells. The hay is forked up so that they can get at it whenever they need to.

Like your cows, our sheep have plenty of straw, yet some still choose to lay away from the straw. All can get inside out of the elements if they want to, yet some just choose to stand out of the wind and not go inside. Their felt-like undercoat acts as real insulation for them.

I'm curious to know what these types of people would define as cruelty and mishandling and how they can possibly lump all farm production systems together?

[cakadu]

My cows are treated like queens, and they have the nerve to get snotty with me when they calve, after I have looked after them better than I do myself all winter.
I am getting a sign made for my gate that says welcome to the place where the CRITTERS RULE !!!

[grassfarmer]

Cakadu, "Farmed animals endure unfathomable misery on today's factory farms" is the quote from your article. I wouldn't disagree with that in any way and don't kid yourself factory farming accounts for a huge percentage of our animal protein production - virtually all the poultry and pork, increasingly more of our beef and even bison production. Thus far sheep have escaped confinement agriculture - they must be too smart to survive it. The quote above doesn't imply that animals in pastoral agriculture can't be well cared for. Non farming people often have little knowledge of farming practice, good or bad - that is not their fault we need to tell our positive story better.

[grassfarmer]

grassfarmer if you consider dairy as intensive livestock, which the current provincial legislation does, then there are confined sheep operations as well. One being a colony that has 1000 milking sheep, using the milk for fetacheese production.

[cakadu]

There are sheep feedlots, just no where near the numbers you see in the other livestock sectors. As a matter of fact, I can only think of a few that are of any size. The number of sheep dairies has also dropped in recent years. There was one not too far away from me, but they closed up shop at least 3 years ago. I know of a couple of other sheep dairies but that's about it for them.

Emrald, I couldn't agree more with your sign and if you get them printed up, print an extra for me because that certainly is the truth around here.

You are quite correct, grassfarmer, when you talk about producers needing to do a better job of letting people know how their animals are raised. More and more people are wanting animals that are raised in a more pastoral setting as you have described in another post. My own personal philosophy is that I like to have the animals free to roam and don't agree with confining them. Having said that though I also understand that it is not everyone's philosophy and they are entitled to raise their animals in whatever management system works for them.

(Maple Leaf had that ad running about all grain fed, natural chicken - I still have yet to figure out what is natural about cramming 20,000 birds into a barn, but it sold a great deal of chicken for them.)