From what I have read lately, the corn boom could actually help the beef industry. Since cattle have more than one stomach, they can digest a wide variety of feed stuffs...and mostly grass. Only finishing can be done with corn. On the other hand, chicken and pigs are much more dependant on corn. When consumers are looking for high protein meats that are reasonable priced and taste good, I believe that high corn prices will put beef in a more favorable position compared to chicken and piggys.
ethanol, corn, cattle, pigs & chickens
- Thread starter redangus
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MountainFarmChar
Well-known member
That is a beef positive theory and this is a beef board.
I appreciate those who try to see the glass half full 8) .
I appreciate those who try to see the glass half full 8) .
Exactly, we CAN profitably produce grass fattened beef IF we have to. How does Tyson feed all those chickens if all that corn is turned into ethanol? We ran just about all the little hog farmers out of the business. Smithfield can't turn a million pigs loose in the fields. You can't fatten catfish without grain. The ruminants (cattle, sheep, goats, bison, buffalo, deer) MAY be the only meat to survive the coming decades.
Jake
Well-known member
Chickens and hogs are going to be the real victims as they cannot utlize Distillers in place of the corn they use now. The poultry industry alone utilized something like 4 times the ammount of corn as the ethanol boys do.
The problem with Distillers is that as we switch to a strictly biproduct feeding system we're going to have problems with marbling. Not just the petty arguments that we've been having but EVERY calf not going to be able to marble unless they are waygu. We feed a DDG Soy hulls ration at home and if a calf is finished out on a completely dry byproduct ration they lose marbling ability. (artilce in Beef Stocker, or BEEF mag but can't find it right now)
The problem with Distillers is that as we switch to a strictly biproduct feeding system we're going to have problems with marbling. Not just the petty arguments that we've been having but EVERY calf not going to be able to marble unless they are waygu. We feed a DDG Soy hulls ration at home and if a calf is finished out on a completely dry byproduct ration they lose marbling ability. (artilce in Beef Stocker, or BEEF mag but can't find it right now)
regenwether
Well-known member
Chicken and pork not survive?? They guys that are in it are not going to run. These high grain price will just slow expansion. I think we'll just import more meat from places like Brazil.
IL Rancher
Well-known member
The recomendation is split your distillers grain with a Gluten byproduct and you will get the marbling. Something like 40% of each for DM and than the other 20 in just some sort of roughage. at least that is what the nutrionist fellow who stopped by was telling me.. I don't feed out fats so it was just kind of part of the flow of conversation... It was interesting...
Problem is that you need to wet mill the corn to get gluten from the Ethanol plants and most places being built are dry mill..
It will affect all aspects of the livestock industry at least short term.. Will be interesting to say the least what will happen if cellulosic production ever gets ramped up.
Problem is that you need to wet mill the corn to get gluten from the Ethanol plants and most places being built are dry mill..
It will affect all aspects of the livestock industry at least short term.. Will be interesting to say the least what will happen if cellulosic production ever gets ramped up.
In past years we used the 1/3 soy hull pellet, 1/3 cracked corn and 1/3 corn gluten pellet to finsih calves. Never had a problem with them marbeling. Don;t know if it was the feed or the butcher but the meat alwasy had just a little peculiar flavor.
jkwilson
Well-known member
Jake":2auk2ajv said:
I think they can use the byproducts, but they will have to be dried first before they can use them in auger-based feed handling systems. This will add to their feed cost. However, somebody might come up with a feeding system that could utilize the wet stuff.
regenwether":1q6lcxga said:
IF corn is too high to feed it, growing the chickens in Brazil won't be any better profit. A few corps grow most of the chickens and half the hogs. A corporation is just as liable too blow away in the wind as an individual farm. See MCI, Netscape, American Motors Corp, Allis-Chalmers, Pan-Am,...
Tyson chicken and Smithfield Pork are business models based on getting corn based feeds cheap. If they have too pay double and triple for their feed; they have to ultimately pass that on to the consumer. I am the kind that if I WANT too grill a pork chop, I will go buy me a pork chop. Whether the price is $1.89 or $7.99 a lb isn't really a factor. Does the public as a whole buy like that though? We may find out.
mwj
Well-known member
ADM is working on a process now to seperate the componets of ddg and gluten into 2 feeds the higher fiber potion aimed at cattle and the higher protien lowfiber part will go to poultry and swine. That is the simple version as I understand it and rest assured it is much more complex. When they break down the biproduct to give it more exposure to dif. livestock it will bring more profit to ADM.
I could be wrong; but I thought Allis-Chalmers formed an alliance with Fiat and they produced various lines of equipment some under the Fiat-Allis moniker. That did not really work out so Allis-Chalmers got bought out by Deutz and they produced aircooled Deutz-Allis tractors for a while in the 80s. Deutz never really made any money in the U.S. so sold what was left of the company to it's American executives so big daddy Deutz could focus on new markets in Eastern Europe. The new Allis-Chalmers didn't make any money with it either so sold out and eventually it got swallowed up by Agco (which also owns Hesston, Massey-Ferguson, White, Tye, and a half dozen other agriculture equipment companies). Gleaner is still manufactured and I THINK so is Agco Allis tractors (I have not seen one in a long while though); so I guess I am overstating it to say that Allis Chalmers is a DEAD company. I kind of see it like a family farm that gets bought out by the big neighbor's place. That 300 acres may still be "in production" as part of the much bigger spread, but that farm is no more.
The word AGCO is short for the Allis Gleaner Company and yes they have been buying up all sorts of agriculture makers.Brandonm2":2vnbegaz said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGCO_Corporation
Shorthornguy
Well-known member
Redangus may have a good point. When all the people on grocery budgets or food stamps can buy hamburger cheaper than chicken or pork they are going to buy hamburger.
mnmtranching
Well-known member
Trouble is most all that hamburger is and will be imported.
novaman
Well-known member
I would be interested in hearing how you determined this.mnmtranching":2bqmbtny said:
somn":274rm8x7 said:
I am being a little tickey tack on this but...
from your article "The company was first called Gleaner-Allis Corporation,". That would imply that this is a NEW corporation NOT the old defunct Allis Chalmers incorporated.
regenwether
Well-known member
Brandonm2...little off subject but good thread. You was refering to Allis and that 300 acre farm. Good or bad change is part of life. We all have our on little idea how things once were and how they should be always that way. It will be interesting how things shake out but as a whole I think things look pretty darn good! 
