From birth to the table

[cowboy43]

If you were asked the question by an individual who has no knowledge of ranching or agriculture :
Why is meat so expensive and what steps are required to get the calf from birth to my dinner table ?
I was asked this question and it made me realize how unprepared I was to answer the question without a lot of deep thinking . If you start listing all steps involved it is mind boggling . Would you please list all your thoughts , it will be surprising how many their are and it will be useful for the beginners. Plus I would like to know all the answers you come up with to see how many I missed.

 

[snake67]

My wife regularly speaks to this issue as a rep on the local Cattleman's Board. Essentially it is a matter of educating the public with truth about where food really comes from - and she is good at it.

Myself - well, I am not so good at it.

Be that as it may, I always respond with -

"The retail price is set by industry - the producer is a price taker and has no say in how much he gets on any specific day. If you want to eat you get to pay the retail price. If we want to make a profit we simply hope to impress the buyers with what we have for sale and we take what we get on that specific day - no more and no less.

If you are truly interested in learning - come on out and you can see for yourself - do not wear flip flops and delicate clothing - I will provide the work gloves so your tender hands do not get sore as I have lots of them in the shop - I never wear them now as I have hands that are essentially thistle and blister proof".

I am sure there are those who would disagree with me but when I tell the average Joe what we get for an animal they are always amazed.

Especially when they can go to the store and fill one grocery bag with more than 200 bucks of red meat without even trying hard.

While the above can be fine tuned with fancy words, it is essentially bang on about price - the other stuff - most people's eyes start to glaze over if you tell them how it all comes to pass.

Unfortunately I do not have many fancy words any more - as I age I have become one mean and blunt SOB - maybe it is the natural progression of "puppy, playful dog, good dog and finally mean old junk yard dog?" LOL

Bez

 

[dun]

I'm not sure at what point I would start trying to explain but here are my thoughts.
Cow is bred, 9 month later she calves
Calf is weaned at around 6 /2 mnths and is sold to a finsiher or a backgrounder that feeds them and prepares them to go to a finisher (feed lot)
From feed lot to slaughter
Slaughter to processor that cuts the carcass for sale to the wholeslae distributor
Wholesale distributor to the reatailer

Each step they hope to make money, cow calf producer probably the least
Feed, health, handling, infrastructure, permits, labor, insurance all along the way add to the cost. The retailer probably makes the third least in actual profit after the original producer and the feeder

 

[TexasBred]

If you are truly interested in learning - come on out and you can see for yourself - do not wear flip flops and delicate clothing - I will provide the work gloves so your tender hands do not get sore as I have lots of them in the shop - I never wear them now as I have hands that are essentially thistle and blister proof".[/i]

Bet you seldom get any takers on this offer. :!:

 

[cowboy43]

My thought was from birth to selling to stocker producer to finisher, how many times someone had contact with calf and what procedures taken , hauling , feeding , producing hay, doctoring, guess i can't get my thoughts into what I am asking,just seems like lot of hours and money invested into one calf to get processed. What all it takes to raise a calf to slaughter.

 

[M5farm]

I'm not sure at what point I would start trying to explain but here are my thoughts.
Cow is bred, 9 month later she calves
Calf is weaned at around 6 /2 mnths and is sold to a finsiher or a backgrounder that feeds them and prepares them to go to a finisher (feed lot)
From feed lot to slaughter
Slaughter to processor that cuts the carcass for sale to the wholeslae distributor
Wholesale distributor to the reatailer

Each step they hope to make money, cow calf producer probably the least
Feed, health, handling, infrastructure, permits, labor, insurance all along the way add to the cost. The retailer probably makes the third least in actual profit after the original producer and the feeder

I have been out of it for a few years but the Standard In the retail grocery business Was 25% gross profit in the meat depts. Lunch meat40% excluded from that If IIRC

 

[dun]

I'm not sure at what point I would start trying to explain but here are my thoughts.
Cow is bred, 9 month later she calves
Calf is weaned at around 6 /2 mnths and is sold to a finsiher or a backgrounder that feeds them and prepares them to go to a finisher (feed lot)
From feed lot to slaughter
Slaughter to processor that cuts the carcass for sale to the wholeslae distributor
Wholesale distributor to the reatailer

Each step they hope to make money, cow calf producer probably the least
Feed, health, handling, infrastructure, permits, labor, insurance all along the way add to the cost. The retailer probably makes the third least in actual profit after the original producer and the feeder

I have been out of it for a few years but the Standard In the retail grocery business Was 25% gross profit in the meat depts. Lunch meat40% excluded from that If IIRC

Gross doesn;t really mean much, what is their net.

 

[M5farm]

I'm not sure at what point I would start trying to explain but here are my thoughts.
Cow is bred, 9 month later she calves
Calf is weaned at around 6 /2 mnths and is sold to a finsiher or a backgrounder that feeds them and prepares them to go to a finisher (feed lot)
From feed lot to slaughter
Slaughter to processor that cuts the carcass for sale to the wholeslae distributor
Wholesale distributor to the reatailer

Each step they hope to make money, cow calf producer probably the least
Feed, health, handling, infrastructure, permits, labor, insurance all along the way add to the cost. The retailer probably makes the third least in actual profit after the original producer and the feeder

I have been out of it for a few years but the Standard In the retail grocery business Was 25% gross profit in the meat depts. Lunch meat40% excluded from that If IIRC

Gross doesn;t really mean much, what is their net.

on average it would be around 10 to 12%

 

[backhoeboogie]

I generally feed one out and put it on my own table.

Not every calf lives. You pro-rate losses against the whole bunch of survivors. You are feeding that cow all winter before she has the calf. You are feeding the bull too. Innoculations. Fertilizer costs. Worming. Fence repair. Fuel. Tires. Property Tax!!!!! Processing fees. - and you have not even started calculating the feed bill yet. All the little things add up to a lofty sum. All the big things add up even faster when you are cutting the check to pay for it.

What Bez said. What Dun said. There is a whole lot to calculate in.

After I get that booger processed I have to pay the electric bill for the freezer too. Never really thought about that until now.

Edit: I guess "to my dinner table" would also include the propane on the grill. It aint free. Neither is the cost of the grill.