cattle guys

[bucket]

It’s not just drought it’s crapy prices, 3 good years out of 25 don’t cut it, I sold a hundred yearlings last week and it’s the biggest cheque I’ve ever had but it’s not big enough when you look at the price of everything else. I can think of a lot better ways to make minimum wage than having cows.

That came up in those local meetings. Young guys won't do this for less than minimum wage.

What's worse is guys like Ritz think ranchers should have off farm jobs. Pay taxes so government can create a Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council to find foreign workers to help out the larger BTO .

Every farm that is in its 3rd or 4th generation has had government help. Sadly the current generation think they built the farm themselves and know more than guys just starting out on their own.

Therein lies part of our lobbying problem.

[newguy]

In the past livestock industry used marginal cheaper land and was used as a tax dodge.No more cheap land changes things.yet line ups at burger and steak places.How high can the price go before demand backs off? Guess we will find out in the near future.As a mixed farmer in the past it was just accepted for grain to subsidize the cattle some years and cattle subsidize the grain some years.that type of thinking is gone also as programs has made it a disadvantage to diversify and spread risk.Livestock industry is entering uncharted territory and not sure anyone knows the future.

[WiltonRanch]

In the past livestock industry used marginal cheaper land and was used as a tax dodge.No more cheap land changes things.yet line ups at burger and steak places.How high can the price go before demand backs off? Guess we will find out in the near future.As a mixed farmer in the past it was just accepted for grain to subsidize the cattle some years and cattle subsidize the grain some years.that type of thinking is gone also as programs has made it a disadvantage to diversify and spread risk.Livestock industry is entering uncharted territory and not sure anyone knows the future.

That is a sensible post. Implying it as a tax dodge is a bit overreaching for a lot of us with a purely mixed bag of land. Otherwise this is spot on. I seen some time ago that like in Europe with a high concentration of dairy cattle that supply of beef most notably grind increasingly comes from dairy calves. See a lot of dairy operations AI cows to beef bulls for better gaining calves. Whether this will be enough to fill a void remains to be seen.

Far as my own situation I tried to expand the herd some years ago taking on a lot of very reasonably priced grazing land. Had the cows, adequate home raised feed, lots of grazing but a deficit in infrastructure and labour. Couldn’t make any money because of the lack of those two things but wasn’t capitalized enough to build more stuff and not enough margin to justify a full time person. It was a vicious cycle and it really hasn’t changed for a lot of operations. I cut back to what my marginal land could handle and try to make do with what I have. I am one of the last truly mixed operations in my little area. Herds are disappearing all the time as people age and the younger generation does not want to do it. So much land which once had a fence and cows grazed the margins in the spring or fall is now just farmed and the rest left to grow over contributing to the fuel load. When my ancestors came here there wasn’t a single tree because of rampant fires. Now anything not grazed, farmed, or cut is trees. We displaced fires but the natural balance is out of wack because of excessive vegetation in these non cropped areas. Properly managed grazing in forested areas when appropriate does as much for fire prevention as fireguards and managed fires. We lose more cattle numbers north of hwy 16 I fear we see more intense fires in our grazed forests and non cropping areas.

[bucket]

All I have learnt from 2021 is that bureaucrats are procrastinators , keeping their job for a pension plan. Earning big money supposedly thinking all day long. Not developing proactive programs that can mitigate the problems we have today.

Make an across the board program that can work year in and year out without having to pat themselves on the back for making an announcement with " details to follow " .

Honestly WTF have they been doing since the end of May. This drought is closing on 4 years and they sit back and see if a crisis can be ignored.

Phucking incompetence.

[WiltonRanch]

All I have learnt from 2021 is that bureaucrats are procrastinators , keeping their job for a pension plan. Earning big money supposedly thinking all day long. Not developing proactive programs that can mitigate the problems we have today.

Make an across the board program that can work year in and year out without having to pat themselves on the back for making an announcement with " details to follow " .

Honestly WTF have they been doing since the end of May. This drought is closing on 4 years and they sit back and see if a crisis can be ignored.

Phucking incompetence.

Do you get the sense most governments are largely ambivalent to the cattle industry as a whole? In the past every farm had some form of livestock other than the pure ranching areas. You would like to think things went to where they fit with regards to land suitability and economic situations. Granted some bad ideas like trying to farm blow sand etc. Aside from health issues like BSE or hoof and mouth or increasing esg nonsense the government has a laissez fair approach with the cow calf producer the last 20 years which i honestly don’t mind personally. However, any government involvement in our industry which impacts us should be compensated adequately. When Ritz axed the pfra pastures and Sask did the same with provincial ones it really kicked a lot of smaller and starting out cattle people in the butt. Sure it probably cost the taxpayers some money but the trickle down from the economic activity outweighed. Now a 5 year drought and the governments are even more ambivalent than during the 2002-2004 period of chaos. They’re letting the industry sort itself out. That is what’s hard to take

[newguy]

There is insurance that can be taken out on tame hay and native grass.So producers should not expect governments to 100% compensate the loss of a drought.Not saying that program is perfect but if your in a position that a dry year is a game changer you should have it.

[bucket]

There is insurance that can be taken out on tame hay and native grass.So producers should not expect governments to 100% compensate the loss of a drought.Not saying that program is perfect but if your in a position that a dry year is a game changer you should have it.

That was brought up at meetings. Weather stations are not reflective of local pastures when rainfalls are localized. 30 miles from a station isn't reflective of what's happening in a guys pasture. If the rains come late it may not help for a year like this. I understand it reduces the governments risk, not so much for the guy with the real risk in raising cattle.

[newguy]

That was brought up at meetings. Weather stations are not reflective of local pastures when rainfalls are localized. 30 miles from a station isn't reflective of what's happening in a guys pasture. If the rains come late it may not help for a year like this. I understand it reduces the governments risk, not so much for the guy with the real risk in raising cattle.

Not a perfect program but you can choose a few options on what months to put more % on to suit yor pasture or tame hay .Nice that it is figured out mathematical and no crop insurance adjusters involved.There is a chance you collect and catch rains as much as not collect and miss rains.Point is if your not going to buy insurance expect a loss in a drought whether it is grain or cattle.

[bucket]

I have a half section of canola that you can see the difference from the east side to west in the amount of rain. That's in one mile and the weather stations are 30 miles away for pastures????


If you use a weather station 30 miles away and it rains there but not at your farm, then you have no claim and still no pasture.

[furrowtickler]

Any comment on the announcement yesterday. I am going to delay my comments until I hear what others say. Usually I am a little off and someone points out something I hadn't thought about.

I will say this. In a drought $80 per head doesn't buy much feed, if you can find it.

And a lot of guys are just maintaining the herd genetics.

After a few comments from others I will express my opinion. Right or wrong.

So is this solely a Sask Government thing , or split with Feds ???