Tyson goes natural....

[Cedar]

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/content.asp?contentid=16817

Comments? Is this the beginning of the end for the natural beef market?

(Cowman: I bet you would have some comments with regards to that last paragraph, eh?)

[cowman]

Wherever there is money to be made someone will try to make it? If you have a good idea and it is a success others will always move in and copy it? At the end of the day the one who does it best will have that market.
Certified Angus Beef was a very good marketing ploy that paid off in a big way for Angus breeders. Now they are moving in on the "natural beef" market! I suspect they are the push behind this and it won't just be Tyson accomodating them!
A very effective marketing stratedgy to sell more Angus bulls?
Liked the part about Tyson striving to be an "angel" among packers of the highest ethics caring for the environment, their employees, their suppliers!...Now that is "spin"!

[nw9flynn]

I am very impressed with my MRB. This past growing season was my 1st year for them. My only regret was that I didn't get a new drill with MRB back 5yrs ago.

I do think that the MRB II is a better choice. For the extra money it is worth it.
The original MRB takes too much time and effort to put them in and out of field position. The MRB II can be raised and lowered with a cordless drill. It also has a bigger disk.

[grassfarmer]

Don't know how much the "natural" beef tag is worth as a niche market and what premiums retailers could charge - it's not organic, it's not grassfed it's feedlot beef minus the hormones and antibiotic. Whereas I'd like to see all North American beef being hormone and antibiotic free I don't see it as a big threat to specialised organic or grassfed beef producers.

[rkaiser]

That's right grassfarmer. It was just a nice easy way for groups like Canadian Celtic to seperate themselves without a ton of effort. This move by Tyson may force groups like ours into persuing the organic market. Made one step, can't be that hard to make the next one.

[grassfarmer]

Not a big supporter of "organic" per se I must admit. We sell grassfed on the basis of it being better than organic. Many new customers read about our system and refer to the beef as organic which it technically isn't. I always correct them and spell out exactly what grassfed is versus organic and over 90% agree that what we sell is what they want - organic is a word they know without knowing what it entails. Organic beef can afterall be produced in a feedlot as long as you buy in organic grain and hay to feed them. On the other hand if I were certified organic I wouldn't be able to haul manure in to spread on my land from a feedlot unless they were using organic feeds. Manure that isn't organic ??? bizzare.
Obviously the best option would be grassfed on an organic farm but that's not economic for me at the moment.

[poorboy]

On my heavy clay soils, I am only so/so happy with the MRB's. I think that the double shoot atom jet openers which place seed and fertilizer on the same level are the best in my soil. The MRB's pull hard and shatter all the soil at the level they run at. The fields are also rougher than an atom jet single side band open on 10" spacing. The problem for me is that the shanks on the Bourgault drills are so weak that they will not take the force of a double shoot opener without lifting out of the ground (yes I tried it myself).
For NH3, though I think they are the only way to go.
One concern I have always had with mrb's is thay when the soil is drying out quickly, the unpacked fertilizer bank dries out first and the fertilizer gets stranded up above the crop roots and they do not access the N. Because the fertilizer band is packed and kept moister in a double shoot boot, I have never seen this. I personally have experienced reduced tillering from stranded N with my MRB's. In a wet year they encourage more root development and probably lead to a better crop.
Just my observations, your mileage may vary.

[poorboy]

I just find they don't work good in loose stubble if you harrow. I find also they have alot of upkeep, sc****rs bearings etc.

[r.reid]

Hairpinning problems???Maybe try a straw chopper upgrade. What are you using them for, Liquid, ammonia, or dry?

[r.reid]

R.Reid I use ammonia, we run Redekop choppers, and spreaders but we still harrow, where I notice alot of plugging and riding on top of loose straw, especially if it is a little wetter out, last year I had a terrible time if it would rain enough to make your boot wet I would have to stop seeding I didn't have to do this with my old outfit.

[cris]

Buy a cordless grease gun. carbide sc****rs. We grease while the tractor warms up every day (religously), we have tightened a couple bearings but haven't had a failure yet. we have the old mrb's and have run them for about 25,000 acres on a 54' I don't know how pulling rolling coulters and knife openers can have any more draft the a stelth or a wider atom jet. we have less trouble with coulters than plugging packer wheels or plugging knives when it is wet, then there is the nothing comming up in the tracks problem.