I’ve been doing some thinking......

[CattleMan1920]

Lately the articles about fake meat are coming on strong. Just recently Burger King rolled out a meatless burger (failed to mention what went into the cheese, mayo, and bun, cause that sure wasn't vegan, or ethically sourced animal products) along with White Castle and others. The prevailing sentiment among the writers and the wealthy Silicon Valley backers of fake meat is that cattle are BAD NEWS! Get rid of cattle, and the planet will survive. Never will you hear, "people are to blame for pollution, so therefore we need less humans" that is a far too uncomfortable discussion to engage in for the masses.

Now as you can see by reading my posts, I'm no stranger to controversy and I tend to respond to the authors of these articles with logical, thoughtful responses, not attacks. I try to see where there can be a meeting of the minds, a way where both products can coexist. So far, no meaningful dialogue.

I had a section of our farm that was not grazed over the past few years, I mow it down, but that's all, I've noticed Broom Sage developing along with invasive weeds, but that's not the case with areas that are rotationally grazed, they look green and very vibrant. The argument by the fake meat camp is that cattle destroy the land, but I would beg to differ, I think suburban sprawl, concrete, and shopping centers screw things up far more than cattle could ever begin to achieve in multiple lifetimes. Pastures absorb carbon, paved shopping centers and subdivisions, not so much.

The real, hidden agenda of the fake meat camp is MONEY. Plain and simple, they wish to disrupt the cattle industry just like they disrupted taxis with Uber, brokerages and banking with ETrade, and the list goes on. Cattle and agriculture are in the cross hairs of some people that have vulgar amounts of capital and know how to use it to destroy an industry, that being cattle. They don't give a sh.t about saving the planet, otherwise they would be tackling the plastic situation, i.e. whales dying because they are full of plastic bags, landfills full of plastic, etc.

Will the cattle industry fail overnight?, probably not, people love their beef, will it cause problems for cattle producers, I'm pretty certain of that happening in the near future.

I'm going to start writing more articles on Medium and other platforms to take the other side of the trade, so to say. We as cattle ranchers need to protect this INCREDIBLY important industry, but not through attacks on the media, we need to show the population as a whole that ole Bessy Bell helps the land, that beef can be produced ethically, and that the horrid factory farm conditions do NOT have to be the way animals are raised.

People are going to have to pay up for ethically grown beef if they want a better planet. People are to blame, not the animals for the destruction of the rainforest. It is the insatiable appetite for all things "cheap" that has given the factory farms a green light to ruin the family farm. I can go on and on, and it will become a rant, but like I said, I'm going to stand up for an industry that I believe in, and so should you, by writing articles, posting photos of your beautiful well cared for animals, lush pastures and showing the world that not all meat comes from factories and rainforests.

If you stand by idly, the fake meat camp will eventually demonize all that you have come to love about cattle. They are relentless in their writing as you should be as well.

 

[W.B.]

Branded, I agree with your whole post. Never thought I would say that. I will add that the anti-meat agenda is really about control. Control of ecnonomy, producers and consumers. They will stop at nothing to get their way.

I have no problem with Burger King offering a non meat burger. Just don't advertise it as saving the planet.

 

[jehosofat]

Branded, I agree with your whole post. Never thought I would say that.

Same here.

 

[CattleMan1920]

Branded, I agree with your whole post. Never thought I would say that. I will add that the anti-meat agenda is really about control. Control of ecnonomy, producers and consumers. They will stop at nothing to get their way.

I have no problem with Burger King offering a non meat burger. Just don't advertise it as saving the planet.

My thoughts exactly W.B.

Mark Zuckerberg claimed that Facebook was a way for all to connect and be "friends" That's total bullsh.t, it was a way to mine massive amounts of private information and sell it against our will.

The fake meat investors, those that are providing the seed funding to the startups see dollar signs, they think that with enough slick marketing, save the planet stories, and a few strategic placements such as Burger King that they can get traction and totally disrupt the cattle industry. I assure you that the top investors are FAR from carbon neutral on their footprint on society. Gulfstream V jets, Mclaren cars, and Feadship yachts are not exactly eco friendly, but most of the guys involved in Silicon Valley have at least one, if not all of those toys. Save the planet, my AZZ!

Unless, wheat and potatoes can be grown on concrete, they are going to take resources as well.

I will say it again, humans are the problem, not cows.

 

[True Grit Farms]

Liberals have no common sense and there's no way to reason with them. I enjoy processing meat in our meat room on the farm, if I could sell directly to the public legally, we'd have it made. Educating the kids that beef is good, healthy and tasty is where we're fighting the anti - beef battle. Doing all the Ag - farm days at the schools and pushing beef at the target audience, is well worth the effort. Kids are open minded and I feel like we make a difference. We had over 2k kids come by our beef booths last week at 4 different schools.
If everyone would do what they can to support and promote beef we'd be alright. Bashing one another on breeds or health care isn't productive for anyone besides the enemy.

 

[True Grit Farms]

Branded, I agree with your whole post. Never thought I would say that. I will add that the anti-meat agenda is really about control. Control of ecnonomy, producers and consumers. They will stop at nothing to get their way.

I have no problem with Burger King offering a non meat burger. Just don't advertise it as saving the planet.

My thoughts exactly W.B.

Mark Zuckerberg claimed that Facebook was a way for all to connect and be "friends" That's total bullsh.t, it was a way to mine massive amounts of private information and sell it against our will.

The fake meat investors, those that are providing the seed funding to the startups see dollar signs, they think that with enough slick marketing, save the planet stories, and a few strategic placements such as Burger King that they can get traction and totally disrupt the cattle industry. I assure you that the top investors are FAR from carbon neutral on their footprint on society. Gulfstream V jets, Mclaren cars, and Feadship yachts are not exactly eco friendly, but most of the guys involved in Silicon Valley have at least one, if not all of those toys. Save the planet, my AZZ!

Unless, wheat and potatoes can be grown on concrete, they are going to take resources as well.

I will say it again, humans are the problem, not cows.

We are cancer to the earth.

 

[CattleMan1920]

Liberals have no common sense and there's no way to reason with them. I enjoy processing meat in our meat room on the farm, if I could sell directly to the public legally, we'd have it made. Educating the kids that beef is good, healthy and tasty is where we're fighting the anti - beef battle. Doing all the Ag - farm days at the schools and pushing beef at the target audience, is well worth the effort. Kids are open minded and I feel like we make a difference. We had over 2k kids come by our beef booths last week at 4 different schools.
If everyone would do what they can to support and promote beef we'd be alright. Bashing one another on breeds or health care isn't productive for anyone besides the enemy.

You might be surprised how many "conservatives" have silent interests in this new tech through hedge fund investments and so on. Don't kid yourself into thinking that this is a completely one sided issue.

If there is one thing all people love over political party, it's money.

As for bashing the health of cattle. All people are doing by having sick cattle in the fields is giving the PETA folks tons of ammo to demonstrate the poor care that cattle receive.

 

[True Grit Farms]

We ask all the kids if they like hamburgers. Then we tell them that everything from the burger to bun and everything in between comes from a farmer. Very few folks can put money aside and do what's right.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

Beef production is to free and independent, and thus they hate it.

 

[CattleMan1920]

Beef production is to free and independent, and thus they hate it.
[/quote

To a degree, a small one at that. Truth is, the seed investors in fake meat don't give a rat's azz about you. This idea of them attacking your freedom is a misnomer.

This is about MONEY! There are going to be a handful of startups that obtain, INSANE amounts of seed capital for fake meat development. Multimillionaires will pop up overnight in the industry. They will make tons of money with a minuscule capital investment, the polar opposite of ranchers in the United States.

Think about it, they need a lab and chemists, they don't need land, and labor, and massive capital inputs like a large ranch needs.

Take the Kardashians for example, they can get upwards of $1 million dollars for an Instagram post, compare that to a whole family raising cattle, have a production sale and clearing $500k or so for a whole year of intensive work. Kardashian's have little to no capital investment, same with fake meat. This is why it's so darn appealing to the Silicon Valley elite that are aggressively pursuing this new trend. As I said before, it's an opportunity to completely disrupt a lucrative business, possibly in very short order, and with minimum capital, a Silicon Valley nerds wet dream.

Instead of hundreds of thousands of cattle producers you could possibly have less than 100 or so well funded fake meat companies that can make the future in the cattle business a lot less appealing.

The only way I see to protect oneself is to raise the best quality beef you can possibly produce, and market it as such. The marginal players in the cattle business should be closing up shop, because these fake meat guys through slick marketing can ruin their business quickly, and will. New York City cab owners didn't know what hit them when Uber came to town.

 

[Nesikep]

While I agree about them wanting control, I think the mechanism might be a little different.. they want the LAND.. It's pretty clear nowadays that unless you start off with a good bunch of land, cattle will never pay the mortgage and a living wage as it stand.. Most places I see have a purchase price to cow capacity of $10,000:1, around here it's more like $40,000 per cow.. at 6% interest that's $240/year, lets say that much again to pay down principal, so about $500/year, or half the value of a calf.. you haven't covered any expenses, losses, replacements or anything at that point.
People with power have LOTS of money even in hard times, they buy the assets at $.20 on the dollar

 

[Nesikep]

Cab owners can go pound sand for all I care, I've hardly ever had decent service, they only wanna go to the airport or the night club strip.. They opened the door wide for that one. Once I was recording a musician at a bar and had some equipment with me.. was about 4-5 miles home, couldn't get a cab.. Finally one guy (a white guy) would bring me home.. he got a good tip

 

[CattleMan1920]

While I agree about them wanting control, I think the mechanism might be a little different.. they want the LAND.. It's pretty clear nowadays that unless you start off with a good bunch of land, cattle will never pay the mortgage and a living wage as it stand.. Most places I see have a purchase price to cow capacity of $10,000:1, around here it's more like $40,000 per cow.. at 6% interest that's $240/year, lets say that much again to pay down principal, so about $500/year, or half the value of a calf.. you haven't covered any expenses, losses, replacements or anything at that point.
People with power have LOTS of money even in hard times, they buy the assets at $.20 on the dollar

Hard times is when the wealthy thrive and expand.

 

[CattleMan1920]

Cab owners can go pound sand for all I care, I've hardly ever had decent service, they only wanna go to the airport or the night club strip.. They opened the door wide for that one. Once I was recording a musician at a bar and had some equipment with me.. was about 4-5 miles home, couldn't get a cab.. Finally one guy (a white guy) would bring me home.. he got a good tip

I'm not defending cabbies, I've experienced my fair share of lousy cab rides, I was just illustrating how fast and industry can be disrupted.

 

[JMJ Farms]

While I agree about them wanting control, I think the mechanism might be a little different.. they want the LAND.. It's pretty clear nowadays that unless you start off with a good bunch of land, cattle will never pay the mortgage and a living wage as it stand.. Most places I see have a purchase price to cow capacity of $10,000:1, around here it's more like $40,000 per cow.. at 6% interest that's $240/year, lets say that much again to pay down principal, so about $500/year, or half the value of a calf.. you haven't covered any expenses, losses, replacements or anything at that point.
People with power have LOTS of money even in hard times, they buy the assets at $.20 on the dollar

Assuming you meant $4k and not $40k. $40k at 6% would be $2400/yr interest, which certainly isn't doable. Feed costs add up real quick too. I like the idea of buying at .10 to .20 on the dollar. Problem is I ain't wealthy. But the strategy is sound.

 

[Nesikep]

When you have a group of companies in a sector that price fix, diminish quality, etc that's when you open the door to competition. That's how Kia and Hyundai have made some major inroads, and I could see it coming someday with trucks.. base model trucks at $50K and up has gotta be an open door!
In the fast food industry it's not going to happen so easily, McDonalds and all the chains, Fritolay, Pepsi, Coke, etc all have very tight quality control.. Sure McDonalds morons will screw up your order but they'll usually make it right without a fuss (unlike car companies). Have you EVER had a can of Coke that wasn't right? (I've never had a can of Pepsi that was)

In the beef industry, well, it's a bit of hit and miss, I think quality control is getting better, but the retail prices are getting stupid, and with the exception of 2015, the producers certainly weren't raking it in, but the customer is ending up paying a heck of a lot for the product.. Part of that is there's a whole lot of middle men with their fingers in the pot between the producer and the consumer.. that doesn't happen with Coca cola (from Coke to retail store, to customer)


JMJ, yeah, i bungled half the math, but actually around here the $40K per cow is still low.. Ranch across the river from us handles about 80 head, you would be hard pressed to buy it for 4 million (CAD) which is 50K per cow

 

[Son of Butch]

Never will you hear, "people are to blame for pollution, so therefore we need less humans" that is a far too uncomfortable discussion to engage in for the masses.
I guess you missed the birth control debates of the 60s and 70s or Communist China population control of 1 child per family. Or the creation of Earth Day, land fills vs garbage dumps, smog control, emission standards and on and on starting 50 years ago!

The real, hidden agenda of the fake meat camp is MONEY. Plain and simple....
Oh No... those capitalist bxstxrds.... profits!?!
How dare they!
Where's Bernie Sanders when you need him?

People are going to have to pay up for ethically grown beef if they want a better planet.
It's a case of the Haves vs the Have Nots.
The fact is only 1/3 of the world's population can afford it as their protein source.

 

[CattleMan1920]

Never will you hear, "people are to blame for pollution, so therefore we need less humans" that is a far too uncomfortable discussion to engage in for the masses.
I guess you missed the birth control debates of the 60s and 70s or Communist China population control of 1 child per family. Or the creation of Earth Day, land fills vs garbage dumps, smog control, emission standards and on and on starting 50 years ago!

The real, hidden agenda of the fake meat camp is MONEY. Plain and simple....
Oh No... those capitalist bxstxrds.... profits!?!
How dare they!
Where's Bernie Sanders when you need him?

People are going to have to pay up for ethically grown beef if they want a better planet.
It's a case of the Haves vs the Have Nots.
The fact is only 1/3 of the world's population can afford it as their protein source.

Yes, that was before my time. It seems like it was only lip service, because our planet would not be so trashed up if even a small percentage of that had taken hold.

As for the profits comment, I'm not naive. I could care less if people make tons of money, what I have a problem with is telling the masses "cows are VERY BAD for the environment". I'm suggesting, why not say "people are as well"?

The fact that only 1/3 of the population can have meat probably supports my theory that there are too many people on planet Earth.

 

[JMJ Farms]

JMJ, yeah, i bungled half the math, but actually around here the $40K per cow is still low.. Ranch across the river from us handles about 80 head, you would be hard pressed to buy it for 4 million (CAD) which is 50K per cow

$50k/cow? That blows my mind. You need to sell out and relocate!

 

[Son of Butch]

Never will you hear, "people are to blame for pollution, so therefore we need less humans" that is a far too uncomfortable discussion to engage in for the masses.
I guess you missed the birth control debates of the 60s and 70s or Communist China population control of 1 child per family. Or the creation of Earth Day, land fills vs garbage dumps, smog control, emission standards and on and on starting 50 years ago!

The real, hidden agenda of the fake meat camp is MONEY. Plain and simple....
Oh No... those capitalist bxstxrds.... profits!?!
How dare they!
Where's Bernie Sanders when you need him?

People are going to have to pay up for ethically grown beef if they want a better planet.
It's a case of the Haves vs the Have Nots.
The fact is only 1/3 of the world's population can afford it as their protein source.

Yes, that was before my time. It seems like it was only lip service, because our planet would not be so trashed up if even a small percentage of that had taken hold.
or could you imagine how much worse it would be if every city and small town still had trash burning daily at city dumps nationwide? To think that your grandparents and their parents were ignorant uncaring axxholes is probably wrong.


As for the profits comment, I'm not naive. I could care less if people make tons of money, what I have a problem with is telling the masses "cows are VERY BAD for the environment". I'm suggesting, why not say "people are as well"?

The fact that only 1/3 of the population can have meat probably supports my theory that there are too many people on planet Earth.
I'm just suggesting, to think the choice needs to come down to either cattle or genocide
could be the wrong solution.
Might be if ya do some more of your thinking, you might think of better options?