I hear the train a coming

[J Baxter]

How long does everbody give it before the train wreck hits? It seems I can hear the whistle blowing. The border is to reopen (which I view as a good thing for the long term stability of the industry), but with the drought in the corm belt and grain prices creeping on up this feeder calve market can't last unless fats get on a move.

JB

 

[Caustic Burno]

How long does everbody give it before the train wreck hits? It seems I can hear the whistle blowing. The border is to reopen (which I view as a good thing for the long term stability of the industry), but with the drought in the corm belt and grain prices creeping on up this feeder calve market can't last unless fats get on a move.

JB

J you make some good points I have the feeling that the whistle is blowing but the train has already left.
Not just the border opening but with fuel cost impacting ever household leaving less spendable money. Cost are going to have to be controlled somewhere.

 

[bigbull338]

if the train is coming .better hunker down an get rid of the cattle that has to go.but with the fuel prices its going tobe hard . as tobeing able to move cattle accross the boarder. reality is is its a wait an see game. scott

 

[J Baxter]

I agree with you whole heartedly on the less dollars to spend in each household. Energy prices have taken away about 15% of my budget already (gasoline for commuting, diesel for tractors and combines, fertilizer). It has to stop somewhere. What I'm fearing as a train wreck isn't the 60 cent heifers and 80 cent steers we saw in the past. People can't afford to keep cattle at those prices any longer and I don't necessarily think that they will get that low, but I look for a bunch of people to lose their shirts on these $1000-1200 cows. Fuel prices have raised the bar....how low can we stand prices to go now before we start seeing the market collapse? Is it $1 calves?

JB

 

[Caustic Burno]

Chicken people are smiling I bet.
Read today during the Arab oil embargo of 80 inflation adjusted price of gas was 3.03.
Scary as thats when the bottom was out of beef in the late 70's early 80's. Oh well survived then will survive this just have to become more efficient.

 

[bigbull338]

i think the prices pf calves will back off.burno alot of ppl was going bust in the 70s . on the the heels of the bust an drought from 72 to 77. i think we will see 30 cent a lb weigh cows again. scott

 

[Medic24]

Like everything else in life,,,,,,,role the dice everyday we get out of bed.

Just hope it doesnt get as bad as the time when they televised farmers shooting the cattle and calves because they could not afford to feed them for what the market was bringing then. :shock:

 

[Beefy]

oh TRAIN. i thought it said Rain.

 

[Dee]

Medic, why would somone kill his animals if he can't afford feed instead of selling them. Some $ is better than none. Or is it a statement kind of thing? If I can't get a good price, I would rather kill them than sell? Maybe it was before my time?

 

[Medic24]

hows that ol verse go?

The won't let me run the train or even ring the bell, but if that train should wreck, see who catches hell?


Choo,choo, ;-)

 

[Medic24]

Well Dee, if I remember correctly, and it was ALMOST before my time, it was more of a statement kind of thing going on, I vividly remember the newscast showing a bunch of farmers lined up over pits shooting into the cattle at the bottom of it, and the gist of it was that it would cost more to feed and transport them, then it would be to just shoot them and get it over with. Anyone else remember such a thing?

I understand, but, I certainly don't condone such actions. :cboy:

 

[Beefy]

ive heard of people knocking male dairy calves in the head before.

 

[MikeC]

ive heard of people knocking male dairy calves in the head before.

Have sold many, many, Jersey and Holstein bull calves for $5.

 

[Medic24]

yup years ago, my neighbor would do just that....knock em in the head and toss em in the hole. if he sold them the sale bill often cost more then what they sold for... but hopefully those days are forever past!

 

[Longtails4Me]

At a sale I attend the babies were bringing $2 to $5 a head.
Commision to sell them was a flat $7. So one of the dairymen
parked his trailer with a couple of day-olds beside the building and put a sign on it "FREE CALVES", hoping to save himself the difference in commisions. He went in the cafe and had lunch and when he returned he was surprised to find his trailer slam full of baby calves, that the other dairymen had donated to his cause. This wasn't that long ago, it was the last time corn got so high, 1997 I think. Cattle got cheap but didn't stay that way long.

 

[bigbull338]

oh how i remember the days of 5 bulls. an your right you owed the barn money. alot of guys wouldnt pay the barns. the barns finally started taking what calves brought an that was it . took 3yrs fore bull calves really started bringing decent money. scott

 

[joe]

When cattle prices are low the Mrs. tells me to lock the topper on the truck when I go to the sale barn. When she was younger, her father and her took a few head to the sale barn, and when they came out someone had put three head back in their trailer. http://www.ftpierrelivestock.com/Consig ... 2015th.htm
hope this link works above. Ft. Pierre is one of the biggest sale barns in SD. Baby beef calves $270-$480 a head last week.

 

[eric]

Since I am probably younger than most of you guys posting here, on this particular subject, and have never had to sell into a bad market, did the price of beef go down any to the consumer? Or did the packers just put it to the grocers/customers and keep the profits themselves?

 

[preston39]

Medic, why would somone kill his animals if he can't afford feed instead of selling them. Some $ is better than none. Or is it a statement kind of thing? If I can't get a good price, I would rather kill them than sell? Maybe it was before my time?

========
Dee,
Just a few years ago... hog farmers in Illinois were giving them away along a main road..some elsewhere were killing them and others were giving them away. They were so cheap it didn't pay to haul them off.....prices were around .03-.04 cts. per pound.

Such acts were symbolic of the problem and were designed to get public attention. Recent corn prices and futures have almost...not quite.... created this type scenario to happen. Delayed...I think by the impending better future with ethanol and bio diesel demand possibilities.

We must remember that less than 1% of the US population (USDA)reside on the producing farms.(while we feed some 60% of the world population!!!) Not many votes...or much clout to get attention with.

 

[flaboy]

Never had anyone put any in the truck/trailer while my back was turned. I do remember my grandpa selling his Holstein calves for $5-10 when he could find a buyer. I sure am glad the family got out of the dairy business. I don't envy those guys.