Victoria":sc9km3y1 said:
I keep all of our boys - for bulls or I feed up the steers and sell freezer beef. We are keeping most of our heifers as our herd is getting older. We have a few girls to send out though. They were going to leave us for the first calf sale of the season on the 5th but like most other people we kept them home. If I remember right there were 106 (or was it 160) calves that made it to auction. Last week the prices for a 600-700 lb steer was 140-146. Heifers 125-134. The heifers weren't selling for much less than the steers before this whole XL thing but they sure are now. The steers have dropped a bit - I can't find my sheet that tracks the numbers but I know I had it worked out that a 680 lb steer was worth a bit over $1,000 so that is a drop. What has really dropped are the cows. XL in Brooks takes a lot of older cows. Sold some older - still in good shape- cows before this happened for $1100. - they were bought by XL. Heard from a guy who said that he saw those kind of cows go for $400. after the blow-up.
We decided to hold our girls until November. They are good heifers and would work well in a commercial program so hoping someone might be buying replacements then??? As I say, we only have a few to go thankfully. Sure am feeling for guys like you who ship them all out - it's pretty hard to figure out what the best course of action is.
I'm wondering what the long term damage will be at the retail level. When I see questions like "I'm scared to eat beef. But how do I get enough iron?" being put in the internet version of the Globe and Mail with the answer of you don't have to eat red meat - well, I just don't like seeing that. The media is having a real good time with this one. I'm kind of amazed that prices are staying as high as they are but most everyone is keeping their calves at home so far. If XL doesn't open up soon then I would expect a fall in price as people can no longer hold on and ship them out and 1/3 less animals are needed. If I were shipping steers I think I would do it now. I'm not trusting that XL is going to get it together and get production levels back up before winter sets in and people feel the need to sell. Winter looks like it could come early here. I could be wrong though - sadly that happens more than I would like. :lol2:
It will all go away until the next time
That next time might be from the small producer and his animals that go through the local slaughter house.
No one is immune and despite all the crap written in the paper it all comes down to - in my opinion - management running the slaughter house - so despite keeping things for freezer beef you are no safer than anyone else. In fact YOUR processor - the small operator could create the e-coli problem. And YOUR beef could go to the client carrying e-coli virus. All is takes is one careless move by the processor
Just because someone keep beef back and sells out the front gate does not make them or their customers immune to the problem. In fact it could be argued it puts them even more at risk as small places may not have cleanliness protocols in place that are consistent - and that can be the case even with federal or provincial inspectors in place.
So - despite all the media hoopla and despite all the political hoopla - I would take XL management - who have a legal, moral and ethical obligation to the public and to food safety - string them up by the gonads and start kicking them.
As for cattle pricing - you can be sure that XL and Cargill do not give a damm what the farmer/rancher gets - it is in their best interest to get their supplies at a lower price. In fact they do control pricing to a certain extend - buying in large volumes and holding the cattle on pasture or feed lots - and stopping the buy when pricing gets to a certain height.
Then they allow the price to fall while using their "stockpiled" animals. This ensures the rancher is "under control" and the big boys get their product at a price THEY want - not what YOU want.
Cargill and XL control approximately 90% of all the meat business in Canada. You deal with them or not - small guys can afford to run around them. Unfortunately when we shipped hundreds of calves at a time - we were forced to deal with the big boys - held our noses because we had to - not many markets - especially when the border shut down. Consolidation and centralization may be good for shareholders, but it is NOT good for the consumer and the producer.
Unfortunately people are not being told that e-coli cannot penetrate - therefore steaks and roasts and solid cuts need to have the outside cooked hot and the inside can safely be served at any desired temp from blue to well done. Ground beef needs to be cooked all the way through and should be at ant rate to prevent potential infectious problems. It really is that simple - but the media has continually screwed it up and the public laps up the media inspired advice.
Find the small independent producers and support them if you can.
Best to all
Bez
