Search results for query: *

That does make perfect sense. I was thinking about the guy with 400 calves. If he wanted to go into direct marketing big time, he could probably make it work with 400 feeder calves. But, if it’s anything like North Carolina, his problem might be finding custom processors with that kind of...

If 16,000 people eat beef 4 times per week at a half-pound per meal, that’s 32,000 lb of beef per week, or 1,664,000 lb of beef per year. Divide that by a 70% yield and again by a 60% dressing percentage, and you get right at 4 million pounds of live weight. At 1,200 lb per finished steer, it...

Thanks Jan, I'll look that one up and watch it. Steve, I think the only real way to talk about profit is net profit after all expenses, depreciation, etc. is deducted. That's one problem (at least it seems like it is) with some of the numbers that we're seeing, including the Sterling Beef...

No, they're definitely not worthless. It's my understanding that the hide and offal is what's included in the drop credit. That averages out to $7.51/cwt based on live weight, according to this report: https://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/nw_ls444.txt However, the fat and bones pose a great...

I agree that Cargill and the other packers employ a lot of people and pay into the system, and that's all good. I'm just trying to figure out what's really going on. Some of the Facebook comments that I've read are just incredibly nasty - basically calling the packers liars, cheats, thieves...

Thanks for posting those links. That market report is helpful, and I think it would be good to discuss it. I am not really in the cow-calf business anymore. Instead, I raise-pasture fed and finished beef and sell to local customers (most steers are supplemented but some are grass fed). It...

I've been seeing a lot of discussion recently about packer gross profit. Believe me, I have no great love for the packers, and I would much rather the American farmer/rancher make money than the packers. But if we're going to claim that they are taking advantage of cattle producers, we have to...