Forbes article

[HDRider]

IMO. Economics will be the downfall, not the environmental impacts. Consumers are simply unwilling to pay the price to support the pyramid:

Producer
Feeder
Slaughter
Packer
Retailer.

As we have seen with coal. When the US started producing huge quantities of natural gas, the economics of coal do not pencil out.

TT. Beef will be largely imported from countries that can do it on the cheap. Just like making clothes. That has all gone overseas.

I, regretfully, and saddened to do so, agree.

 

[HDRider]

The American consumer has proven time and again that they are not willing to pay higher prices to maintain production and industry in this country. It's a significant factor as to why so many companies close or transition to overseas production. Textile, steel, automotive, heck even Eastman Kodak split for China back in the early 2000s. Food is one expense the American consumer has been conditioned to believe they absolutely should not have to pay proportional cost for. Its why there isnt enough money in dairy, beef and most other agriculture enterprises for everyone involved to get what should be a fair slice of the pie. The pie is about the size of a biscuit. When folks are eating ribeye in a restaurant for $12 on the lunch special, makes it impossible for everyone involved in the chain of beef production/consumption to turn a reasonable profit. Many in that chain get short changed. Same is true of milk, pork, chicken, etc

I do wish ya'll would have told me this BEFORE I got into cattle.

 

[ga.prime]

Speaking of millionaires, I read about a millionaire mattress salesman in Houston that was looking for a sports book that would take a $10 million bet on the Astros to win the World Series. He says it's to cover the losses he'll incur in the event of a win because of his offer of a full refund if the Astros win the series to anyone that buys a $3000 mattress.

 

[HDRider]

The one thing that baffles me the most is why anyone would think of outsourcing our food supply by depending on foreign countries to supply our food it just seems crazy. For one thing it seems to me it would be a matter of national security. We as a nation need to have and maintain as much of our food production here in country as possible.
Not to mention the impact that the beef industry has on the local economies of towns all across the nation. To loose that would certainly take a lot from communities. Folks these communities are already bleeding folks dry with taxes and fees. I shudder to think how it would be with much more lost revenue. Agribusiness accounts for a lot more than most realize.

Some people think shopping at Walmart is crazy. Most people shop at Walmart.

Most folks buying beef, or any food, have no idea where it comes from, and probably never even think about it.

Food ads make it easy with their pastoral settings for all food items.

 

[Bright Raven]

I do not know what the ag wealth building issue is in Kentucky. Is everyone running 20 head on a continuously grazed pasture?

We have 3 multimillionaires in the area that made it thru auctionering, sales barn ownership, and flipping cattle. Bunch of other millionaires who are land barons. Several who raise (legal) edible crops. Two who run implement dealerships. One who runs a repair shop. And so on.

The average producer in Kentucky has a herd of approximately 20 cows.

You can always cherry pick a vocation, trade or occupation and find the extremes. So let's acknowledge that there are those individuals who through good fortune on their own merits, riding the coattails of others or by nefarious means have done well. But how are the vast numbers who participate in this vocation faring? The majority and greater are not making a living in the cattle industry. Their interest in cattle is a lifestyle diversion from their primary livelihood. I will concede that having lived 30 years in the Rocky Mountain West that the dynamics are much different. Nevertheless, that does not preclude that one can lose money on a larger scale.

 

[bball]

The one thing that baffles me the most is why anyone would think of outsourcing our food supply by depending on foreign countries to supply our food it just seems crazy. For one thing it seems to me it would be a matter of national security. We as a nation need to have and maintain as much of our food production here in country as possible.
Not to mention the impact that the beef industry has on the local economies of towns all across the nation. To loose that would certainly take a lot from communities. Folks these communities are already bleeding folks dry with taxes and fees. I shudder to think how it would be with much more lost revenue. Agribusiness accounts for a lot more than most realize.

Some people think shopping at Walmart is crazy. Most people shop at Walmart.

Most folks buying beef, or any food, have no idea where it comes from, and probably never even think about it.

Food ads make it easy with their pastoral settings for all food items.

Nailed it! And why? Cheaper prices, centralized purchasing. Mom and Pop couldn't compete with the goliath purchasing power of Sam. Same thing just happened in our small local community. Casey's built a gas station here a couple years ago. Immediate success because of all they had to offer. A few of us locals stayed loyal to Jim, even when his fuel was .30 higher. He lasted just short of a year after the grand opening. Now, guess who I bump into every once in a while at the fuel pump at Casey's? We all know the rest...

 

[Stocker Steve]

American style capitalism can be an ugly thing.

 

[bball]

American style capitalism can be an ugly thing.

Little feller has a tough row to hoe today...

 

[Bright Raven]

American style capitalism can be an ugly thing.

Ain't no one ever said it was honest or fair because it is far from it. The only thing we can ask is that it is being practiced according to the law. Let's see if this administration can assure us of that.

 

[sstterry]

Those same tariffs are keeping us out of China where they are clamoring for more beef.

 

[cbcr]

Saw a post today that outlined part of the problem. In 1850, 64% of the US population was employed in agriculture. Today people directly involved in agriculture is so small.

We are such a small group that trying to get our voice heard is diminishing, and the younger generation today is so out of touch with reality that they don't understand, they only want to believe in the vision and refuse to look at the facts.

I had an individual a few months ago that was at a gathering and a comment was made that for some people consuming meat or dairy products is not fashionable and has lost their style and is not the "in" thing to do.

Activists seem to have deeper pockets by tugging on the heartstrings of the urban population. It is hard for those of us involved in agriculture to compete with that, no matter how much science of facts we have on our side. Today so many people have no idea where their food comes from. They seem to think that all they have to do is go to the store, but they do not know the whole process of how it got to the store.

So many think that plant based foods are healthier, but when you look at the ingredients and some of the processing that goes in to making some of these plant based foods, they cannot be healthy. Look at how much sodium they contain!

Science, for so many years has been an enemy to most of agriculture, such as consuming beef, pork or poultry is bad for you. And you should not use real butter because it is bad for you too! Science said that all of our agriculture products caused heart disease, obesity and other health problems.

Then science came out and said they were wrong, that our products were good for us, that they promoted good cholesterol, were important for a healthy diet. But it was too late, the damage was already done.

Cola products high in fructose corn syrup, energy drinks high in caffeine and other products have outpaced our dairy and meats. Have seen where some studies have been done that chocolate milk is better at replenishing your body after a workout that the sport energy drinks.

We see ads for the fake products on prime time TV. Where are the ads for our products? I've seen comments made by those on advertising boards that TV ads and print ads don't work, but our competitors are there and we are losing out to them.

I have also seen that the salaries on some of the advertising boards is unbelievable. It seems they are more worried about making sure they can get their high salary, bonuses, long vacations, etc. than really trying to help the producers and the products they represent.

The tariff's have had some impact, but the bigger part of the problem is that we are having to rely more on exporting our product to foreign countries because the American consumer is consuming less. This has to change.

The question is, HOW?

 

[bball]

Saw a post today that outlined part of the problem. In 1850, 64% of the US population was employed in agriculture. Today people directly involved in agriculture is so small.

We are such a small group that trying to get our voice heard is diminishing, and the younger generation today is so out of touch with reality that they don't understand, they only want to believe in the vision and refuse to look at the facts.

I had an individual a few months ago that was at a gathering and a comment was made that for some people consuming meat or dairy products is not fashionable and has lost their style and is not the "in" thing to do.

Activists seem to have deeper pockets by tugging on the heartstrings of the urban population. It is hard for those of us involved in agriculture to compete with that, no matter how much science of facts we have on our side. Today so many people have no idea where their food comes from. They seem to think that all they have to do is go to the store, but they do not know the whole process of how it got to the store.

So many think that plant based foods are healthier, but when you look at the ingredients and some of the processing that goes in to making some of these plant based foods, they cannot be healthy. Look at how much sodium they contain!

Science, for so many years has been an enemy to most of agriculture, such as consuming beef, pork or poultry is bad for you. And you should not use real butter because it is bad for you too! Science said that all of our agriculture products caused heart disease, obesity and other health problems.

Then science came out and said they were wrong, that our products were good for us, that they promoted good cholesterol, were important for a healthy diet. But it was too late, the damage was already done.

Cola products high in fructose corn syrup, energy drinks high in caffeine and other products have outpaced our dairy and meats. Have seen where some studies have been done that chocolate milk is better at replenishing your body after a workout that the sport energy drinks.

We see ads for the fake products on prime time TV. Where are the ads for our products? I've seen comments made by those on advertising boards that TV ads and print ads don't work, but our competitors are there and we are losing out to them.

I have also seen that the salaries on some of the advertising boards is unbelievable. It seems they are more worried about making sure they can get their high salary, bonuses, long vacations, etc. than really trying to help the producers and the products they represent.

The tariff's have had some impact, but the bigger part of the problem is that we are having to rely more on exporting our product to foreign countries because the American consumer is consuming less. This has to change.

The question is, HOW?

:clap: :clap: :tiphat: excellent post.

It goes back to the the fact that for most American consumers, price is the deciding factor. Priorities are also a major factor. For example, since post WWII, food product has always been extremely reasonable in this country, almost unrealistically so. Generation after generation has come to expect this as just a given. Now, the global food market is becoming more competitive and margins grow smaller. America is no longer the only big fish in the pond. Prices will have to go up. However, in the past when this attempt at market correction occurs, Uncle Sam steps in (at the uproar of the masses) and "fixes" the prices. Think dairy, or grain, etc.

I took the long way around to say that spending money on food has not been a real priority or necessity for American consumers post WWII. However, the same people that will call their Representative should milk get to $5 a gallon, will gladly fork over $1000 for the newest iPhone, no questions asked. Priorities. Then factor in inflation and the decreasing value of the dollar...

How do you change priorities? Historically, to make food a priority, people have to get very, very hungry.