OP
OP
HDRider
Well-known member
I guess there is always room to improve.
What top five things do you think contract producers can do better than astute cattle buyers to ensure better beef quality?
How 4 companies control the beef industry
- Thread starter HDRider
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What top five things do you think contract producers can do better than astute cattle buyers to ensure better beef quality?
callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
It's not about better quality as much as consistency in quality and consistency in everything else. With consistency comes efficiency and that is the goal in any form of manufacturing a product. Unfortunately it can't be achieved with a hodgepodge of producers. .... didn't say I liked it,. just the facts.
J+ Cattle
Well-known member
I preface this post as it is strictly my opinions and speculation as to future trends.
In the video it broke down the beef industry into four groups; cow/calf producers, backgrounders, feedlots and the packing houses.
Another possible scenario is they go after the feedlots to swallow up the next big block in the supply chain. I see at least one example of this happening.
Judge nixes Tyson's bid for Easterday feedlot
A federal judge in Yakima, Wash., on Wednesday blocked Tyson Fresh Meats from maneuvering in bankruptcy court to wrest the former Easterday cattle feedlot away from a competitor, Agri Beef.
Then they can control the feeding to obtain the quality and yield grade they are after and to ensure a steady flow of cattle into their packing houses. Of course to meet the quality and yield grade objectives that they are after means they may not want your cattle unless you have DNA tested feeders that score to some minimum level. Once that happens the market price for lessor scoring cattle will go way down. This will force producers to raise the kind of cattle they want instead of what the producer likes. Feedlots will change from money losing or break even businesses to profitable because they can contract huge volumes of feed ingredients, and other inputs, like animal health products and fuel long in advance to avoid price fluctuations. When the squeeze gets put on producers even more in the future it will be the ones with low quality feeders that feel the most pressure. Those LH and Corrientes producers will have to change breeds to stay in the game.
J+ Cattle
Well-known member
Fence brings up a good point....the meat packing industry is a highly labor intensive operation, I'm sure they would love to replace some of those workers with machinery and/or robots of some sort but in order to do that they need a consistent product in the form of size and shape, etc. The current supply isn't very uniform which means it needs the human touch. If they could get to a uniform product the machinery could go into operation and their profits grow immensely. Like it or not eventually we will all be raising a very similar looking cattle and outliers that don't fit the "new industry standards" will be heavily discounted.
Son of Butch
Well-known member
Not the cattle buyers, but the manufacturers.
One area where I think manufacturers would like to see in quality improvement would be less brahma blood. But without contracting it would be tough to get astute producers to give up the cheap added pounds brahmans give them.
Just my 2 cents
Ky hills
Well-known member
I know it's just a small drop in the bucket so to speak, but there are some small outfits raising chickens and hogs outside of the conglomerates.
It seems like some are doing ok with raising and selling heritage breed hogs and pork.
The backyard chicken movement has become big. Lots of people are now supplying their own eggs and some have enough to sell. Some are also processing their own chickens for meat.
We were a part of the local farmers market for a while, and saw that there are several folks that want food that is from local farms. This is a movement that is growing.
The same is true with beef, if people have a choice there then the factors come down to price and availability and comparable quality. There are a lot of consumers that will continue to buy cheaper products, but there is a significant amount of people that are willing to pay more for local sourced beef from individuals. Truth is when you factor in a pound per pound comparison of buying a quarter, half or whole beef vs by the cut from the store the store bought is higher.
The key is building a customer base and maintaining a quality product.
Both producers and consumers deserve to have options available to us
I believe it is foolish to put all of our eggs in one basket ie giving in to and relying on a very small number of large corporations when it comes to our food supply.
On a side note people holler about freedom being in jeopardy. Bottom line if we rely on those few big multinational corporations for our food supply, what happens when something happens? We as individuals and communities need to have a plan B for backup. As long as enough people are still privately involved in agriculture then we can collectively supply more food than people think and we need to always have that option. That is just as important as the right to bear arms, which I am a staunch believer in that as well.
It seems like some are doing ok with raising and selling heritage breed hogs and pork.
The backyard chicken movement has become big. Lots of people are now supplying their own eggs and some have enough to sell. Some are also processing their own chickens for meat.
We were a part of the local farmers market for a while, and saw that there are several folks that want food that is from local farms. This is a movement that is growing.
The same is true with beef, if people have a choice there then the factors come down to price and availability and comparable quality. There are a lot of consumers that will continue to buy cheaper products, but there is a significant amount of people that are willing to pay more for local sourced beef from individuals. Truth is when you factor in a pound per pound comparison of buying a quarter, half or whole beef vs by the cut from the store the store bought is higher.
The key is building a customer base and maintaining a quality product.
Both producers and consumers deserve to have options available to us
I believe it is foolish to put all of our eggs in one basket ie giving in to and relying on a very small number of large corporations when it comes to our food supply.
On a side note people holler about freedom being in jeopardy. Bottom line if we rely on those few big multinational corporations for our food supply, what happens when something happens? We as individuals and communities need to have a plan B for backup. As long as enough people are still privately involved in agriculture then we can collectively supply more food than people think and we need to always have that option. That is just as important as the right to bear arms, which I am a staunch believer in that as well.
OP
OP
HDRider
Well-known member
Don't the buyers control that?
Until producers stand together and set the price things won't change. Without us the packers would go bankrupt in a month. What the cattle industry needs is someone to lead the charge, someone that can't be bought by the packers. There are a few trying but for the most part it's falling on deaf ears. We could turn things around in a month if we just stood together.
callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
As long as producers are independent businesses.
That would technically be illegal.
chaded
Well-known member
The other problem is (at least for me) when the cattle need to go they need to go. I can't set them on a shelf and hold out. I have a little wiggle room but eventually I'm taking them in and getting my beating.
It seems to me that the packers will just say "fine, sit on your cattle we will just buy more cheap imports." Im really small time and not even a drop in a bucket really so I don't really know how it all works.
I have thought that for me if i want a better price I'm probably going to have to fence in one of my fields so i have an area to raise up calves and go direct. I have people asking about it all the time but then there is increased cost, increased risk, dealing with people, etc. and is it worth it?
It seems to me that the packers will just say "fine, sit on your cattle we will just buy more cheap imports." Im really small time and not even a drop in a bucket really so I don't really know how it all works.
I have thought that for me if i want a better price I'm probably going to have to fence in one of my fields so i have an area to raise up calves and go direct. I have people asking about it all the time but then there is increased cost, increased risk, dealing with people, etc. and is it worth it?
Son of Butch
Well-known member
Nope
Son of Butch
Well-known member
Actually through unionization it would not be illegal.
But because of their independent spirit, organizing American farmers and ranchers has been compared to herding cats.
Son of Butch
Well-known member
Buyers are mostly agents of the packers and only sort through what is available without any real control of what is offered for sale. Contract production can layout all the details in a binding manner of the whats and hows and pricing of the product.
The positives are shared risk and a guaranteed living wage.
The negative is you sell your soul to the company store for a living wage that is barely living to those of an independent spirit.
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It would be illegal to PO your own product at market or just not send them? I know it would be tough to do and when they need to go but what other real option do we have. I guess we could talk to Congress or tell the packers we need more money to survive. Seems to have worked so far
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
Last workshop put on by TAMU that I attended personally, it was stated most of the small operations would be gone by 2030-2035.
Over 90% of the state's cattle were on operations of 35 head or less.
Over 90% of the state's cattle were on operations of 35 head or less.
Ky hills
Well-known member
Easy to see where that prediction is logical. Does it have to come to pass though? I don't think people realize what is really at stake if all of the small farms go out. It's not a good situation if we rely on large corporations, that are fewer than we can count on one hand and some of them foreign owned, to totally control our food supply.
Hpacres440p
Well-known member
Wish there was a good way to encourage more inspected processors on a local level-even if just state, instead of USDA. Cost (and regulation) prohibitive for many custom guys to convert. For us small folks who would like to direct market, that sets a limit on sale options. Consumers would benefit from easier access of farm-direct beef also. We could get all kinds of diversity going, as the smaller processor can still do most by hand.
J+ Cattle
Well-known member
The ones that survive will be the ones that make marginally more money per head and are will to invest/expand into a larger operation by buying out someone else that quits because they're not making any money or are physically not able to do it anymore. The majority of farmers and ranchers are already past what most people consider retirement age.
J+ Cattle
Well-known member
The government isn't going to do anything to help, if so, they would have done it already. The lobbyist have them in their pockets. The solution has to come from us by working together. I'm not saying this is the answer but it is an example of a group of dedicated producers that joined forces for a common cause, that example is US Premium Beef. They had a vision to capture a portion of the market that is the most profitable, the CAB and Prime grades. Quality always demands a premium, the same amount of time, labor, and feed goes into producing "Select" carcasses as it does "Choice, CAB, and Prime" carcasses.It would be illegal to PO your own product at market or just not send them? I know it would be tough to do and when they need to go but what other real option do we have. I guess we could talk to Congress or tell the packers we need more money to survive. Seems to have worked so far
Ky hills
Well-known member
Yes, and I am also of the mindset that we should be able to sell without being inspected from custom outfits too. When there is a problem or a recall from the big packing plants, it's huge and affects tens of thousands of pounds of meat that have been shipped all across the country.
We have not had a problem from the small slaughter houses.
