ABP Magazine

[cowman]

I often wonder though if the problem is the Cargills of the world making massive profits...or is it the fact that beef(or all food for that matter) has not kept up with inflation?
Before you roast me consider this: What did you get for a calf 15 years ago? What do you get today? What did a steak cost..then and today?
Heres my own guess. In 1992(use that year because I remember it clearly) I sold calves in that $1.25 range, in 2005...about the same! Now I think a steak was around $5 at Safeway...maybe up to $7 now? My numbers might not be real accurate here as I don't do much shopping!
How much has inflation gone up in those ensuing 13 years? If we average it at 2.5% thats 32.5%? That means that calf should be worth $1.66...just to keep up to inflation? I guess the steak has mostly kept up?
The fact is everything you put into raising that calf has kept up with inflation(or maybe better) so defacto you are really not getting enough for that calf? We all know what a new pickup costs, how much to fill the fuel tank, heat the house, put the lights on! I would suggest most of these costs have excceeded inflation? In some cases by a great deal!
I would assume Cargills/Safeways costs to process and market that beef have probably kept up with inflation?
Bottom line is the North American consumer is paying less for food today(adjusted for inflation) that they were thirteen years ago. I believe the portion of income spent on food is below the 10% mark? It used to be close to 25%? I think in Europe the portion is over 30%?
It has always been in a governments interest to keep food prices low. Keeps the majority happy, lets the manufacturers pay low wages, puts money in peoples pockets to buy industries goods...you know the essentials like an RV, luxury car, speed boat, motorcycle, exotic vacation, etc.!
Whether acknowledged or not there is a "cheap food policy"? If hamburger climbed to $4/lb. just watch the cheap beef flood in! Happens every time. And this is not necessarily anything to do with free market competition...often it is subsidized dumping of a foreign product...like the Irish beef scandal of the seventies or the subsidized corn of the last few years?
The government is out to protect their interests...the urban voter, not the tiny minority of food producers.

[whiteface]

"Before anyone roasts you" cowman. It's exactly your economic thinking that gets me to put a post on here once in a while (although I'm sure it brings out some others too but for different reasons). I don't need to regurgetate everything you just said, suffice it to say I agree one thousand percent that the people of this country are spending more of thier money on toys, houses, and the energy to run their toys and heat and light their houses than on their food. I stay in touch with my tenants all the time on this issue and beyond any doubt, the ones that do better, pay a little more for their food ( and alot better toys), the ones that don't are eating maccaroni and paying as much as they can afford on their trucks and SUV's. I didn't make the rules, I just listen to what they tell me. Food is a loooong way down the list of people other than cow-calf and grain guys. Mind you, I don't have millions of tenants so maybe my census is not accurate, however my guess is that with the mix of people and the different cities they're in, and the comments being quite similar, I would say I have a fairly good reading on this type of need. The government is doing simply what the majority asks for. Sorry about our luck. Maybe y'all should have oil and gas jobs, then will no longer be this "over supply" of cattle. I do still give credit to the drive that has some of you literally banging your heads against the wall, but at some point if you stop banging, your head will stop hurting. I bang my head too alot of days, just for things that I feel I can actually change. Have a good day all, enjoy the rain and sunshine together, great calf and crop growing weather!

[grassfarmer]

Well I would disagree with that thread 1000% although I don't think there is such a percentage, Whiteface.
It's a one dimensional look at costs, inflation and food prices with a view to backing the packers once again. The price consumers are paying in the store for beef is high enough to justify a very good return to beef producers if there were a more equitable distribution of the profits. This is the problem. Equally Cowman could post the figures that show the producers return for the grain in a loaf of bread or the ranchers return for the steak now compared to 1992. These most clearly show that the big change has been in the take the middleman gets due to processor concentration over the years. Blaming the consumer or the Government for insisting on cheap food is a smoke screen.

[whiteface]

Fair enough grassfarmer, you're entitled to your opinion and while I may disagree with anyone wholeheartedly from time to time, I do appreciate the opinions of everyone... it is part of my job to know where my buyers are comeing from. Hope you're all enjoying this perfect weather, have a good one all!

[cswilson]

Heck my kids like macoroni lol. By the way Meadow Lake will be crowned Hockeyville-(my fearless prediction) probably due to my boys KD addiction lol.

[whiteface]

GOOOOOOOOO OILERS!!!!!!!

[coppertop]

GOOD POST WHITEFACE !!!!! Won't it be great to see them in the Stanley Cup playoffs !!!

Love em' or hate em' they have been the cinderella team so far, and the excitement in Edmonton is unreal. Oilers jerseys and flags everywhere. It takes a brave soul to venture anywhere near Northlands when there is a playoff game, the traffic is unreal. Sure generating a lot into the economy of the city thats for sure.

[PureCountry]

CSWilson, isn't Cold Lake still in the running for the Hockeyville Crown? I didn't know Meadow Lake was....either one would be better than a town from down East getting it!

[cowman]

Yea grassfarmer, I only wrote it because I love the packers and big corporations and want to do everything in my power to support them! LOL
The fact is I'm getting the same price for that calf today as I was in 1992? And if you believe kpb and sean, I'll be getting a hell of a lot less for him in the next couple of years! Hmmm...that must make me a total whiner to point that out? It must be Cargills fault, right? Maybe I can do some voodoo economics to convince myself this is the direction we should be going?

[rkaiser]

The point is cowman - your 1992 prices are the same, but Cargill continues to expand and control more every day. The rules let it be that way cowman, and if we sit back and don't challenge the rules, we can watch this happen further.

No it is not Cargill's fault - it is the rules and no one is going to tell me that Cargill has nothing to do with setting those rules.

Le tthem show us the true captilalist that they claim to be and leave the producer funded ABPCCA COMPLETELY ALONE. When that day comes, I will run and within years you would see a hell of a lot more wise minds take that thing over. That is the only reason that I (and even you cowman) respect Rcalf. They may have some things screwed up, but they certainly understand that this industry is not about one entitiy. It's about Cattle, and it's about beef. Unless you consider the movement toward packers owning and controlling the cattle as well.