I've been losing money

[pdfangus]

We fatten all of our feeder cattle on corn silage, corn, and wet corn distillers. Since it is all some form of corn and corn is a grass wouldn't that "technically" make them grass fed? lol I mean corn is a grain but its also a seed and grass has seeds also and corn is in the grass family so technically I am missing out on marketting my beef as grass fed.

see...this is the kind of rationalization of behavior that "technically" causes the need for standards and inspectors.....

would it not be just as easy to market it as corn fed and try to carve out your own niche instead of trying to infringe upon another one.?

 

[inbredredneck]

Thats alot of the problem people trying to sell something that really isn't what they say it is. Myself on the other hand, I market my implanted, antibiotic and corn fed feedlot beef, exactly as what they are, all natural corn fed beef.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Thats alot of the problem people trying to sell something that really isn't what they say it is. Myself on the other hand, I market my implanted, antibiotic and corn fed feedlot beef, exactly as what they are, all natural corn fed beef.

You remember what Oprah did. It was national news. That impact still carries on with some consumers.

There is a niche market for freezer beef. Small potatoes folks like me with 100 head or less can use that market. People like buying from known sources. I've got engineering peers who want to buy half beef or a whole beef from someone they personally know and trust. 10 steers or so go every year to these folks without me even trying to sell it.

There is also a heart patient who's doc tells him he can eat all the beef he wants provided it is lean beef and suggests he buy longhorn. I cannot fill that bill. Others on this forum could but he does not know them personally therefore the trust is missing.

You see the hamburger mills on television and consumers realize they are eating burger ground together from 600 head. Then there are the recalls of thousands of pounds of burgers for one reason or another just about every year. It puts a scare into consumers.

 

[TexasBred]

We fatten all of our feeder cattle on corn silage, corn, and wet corn distillers. Since it is all some form of corn and corn is a grass wouldn't that "technically" make them grass fed? lol I mean corn is a grain but its also a seed and grass has seeds also and corn is in the grass family so technically I am missing out on marketting my beef as grass fed.

You're baffling yourself with your own BS.

 

[pdfangus]

We fatten all of our feeder cattle on corn silage, corn, and wet corn distillers. Since it is all some form of corn and corn is a grass wouldn't that "technically" make them grass fed? lol I mean corn is a grain but its also a seed and grass has seeds also and corn is in the grass family so technically I am missing out on marketting my beef as grass fed.

You're baffling yourself with your own BS.

i WAS SORTA HOPING THAT HE POSTED THAT WITH TOUNGE FIRMLY IN CHEEK BUT YOU NEVER KNOW THESE DAYS.

AFTER ALL OUR FEARLESS LEADER IS NOW TRYING TO TELL US THAT THE LAST THREE YEARS HAVE BEEN THE BEST IN HISTORY....

 

[cmf1]

Surprisingly logical bureaucratic standard here.

https://www.federalregister.gov/art...ng-claims-grass-forage-fed-claim-for-ruminant

A Notice by the Agricultural Marketing Service on 10/16/2007

Claim and Standard

Grass (Forage) Fed—Grass and forage shall be the feed source consumed for the lifetime of the ruminant animal, with the exception of milk consumed prior to weaning. The diet shall be derived solely from forage consisting of grass (annual and perennial), forbs (e.g., legumes, Brassica), browse, or cereal grain crops in the vegetative (pre-grain) state. Animals cannot be fed grain or grain byproducts and must have continuous access to pasture during the growing season. Hay, haylage, baleage, silage, crop residue without grain, and other roughage sources may also be included as acceptable feed sources. Routine mineral and vitamin supplementation may also be included in the feeding regimen. If incidental supplementation occurs due to inadvertent exposure to non-forage feedstuffs or to ensure the animal's well being at all times during adverse environmental or physical conditions, the producer must fully document (e.g., receipts, ingredients, and tear tags) the supplementation that occurs including the amount, the frequency, and the supplements provided.

On the other hand...

Thats alot of the problem people trying to sell something that really isn't what they say it is. Myself on the other hand, I market my implanted, antibiotic and corn fed feedlot beef, exactly as what they are, all natural corn fed beef.

That just doesn't seem right.

 

[ohiosteve]

Inbred, maybe you should start advertising AEB. Antibiotic Enhanced Beef. It's delicious and fights infection! It just might work.

 

[backhoeboogie]

"Implants" are what seem to scare consumers the worst in my experience.

They absolutely want fat tender steak - corn fed is great for most. They don't want the anti-biotics and hormones.

 

[TexasBred]

"Implants" are what seem to scare consumers the worst in my experience.

They absolutely want fat tender steak - corn fed is great for most. They don't want the anti-biotics and hormones.

Most I know wouldn't know what a harmone is, how, where or when it was administered, whay it was administered or anything else about it. Same for antibiotics. They just buy meat. Same with milk, yet they'll read the label of everything single ingredient in a bag of dogfood.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I'm thinking it was about 10 years back when all the consumers were in a hoopla about girl's breasts developing early. They were blaming it on hormones in milk. Surely you remember that TB. Dad's were worried about their sons and some were even blaming the increased gay population on hormones in milk.

All of these things, Oprah's outburst on mad cows, and other such issues are still in the back of consumers minds. It aint so much what the parents are eating, it is how they feel about what they are feeding to their children.

 

[TexasBred]

I'm thinking it was about 10 years back when all the consumers were in a hoopla about girl's breasts developing early. They were blaming it on hormones in milk. Surely you remember that TB. Dad's were worried about their sons and some were even blaming the increased gay population on hormones in milk.

All of these things, Oprah's outburst on mad cows, and other such issues are still in the back of consumers minds. It aint so much what the parents are eating, it is how they feel about what they are feeding to their children.

I remember Oprah's little stink she made several years ago but honestly never hear anyone mention hormones or antibiotics in meat or milk. It's just taste and price usually. Milk plants test for antibiotics only and that is only because some people are allergic to them. Yet at the same time ionophores are approved for feeding to lactating dairy cattle producing milk for human consumption as well as feed lot cattle and technically they are antibiotics.

 

[regolith]

It's not just allergies. The presence of antibiotics, even miniscule amounts can ruin a batch of cheese. When that's a tanker and trailer full of milk that's a heckuva lot of cheese and everyone gets pretty annoyed at the farmer that did that (and they know, because every collection is sampled and they can go back and test all the samples if the cheese fails).
I have heard people talk about hormones &c in meat and milk and it's ill-informed stuff leading right back to the likes of PETA or that scientist who announced on TV that there might be a link between CJD and BSE... blown all out of proportion and if you trace it back you'll usually find the PETA website at the end - I mean, people quote verbatim and don't know where that information comes from because it's been passed on like a game of 'chinese whispers' but some phrases stay intact.
I remember all the hormones in the water scares... didn't they blame it on birth control pills first? What a lot of people miss is that children are better fed than they used to be. causation, correlation, whatever.

The definition of 'pasture fed' on the TB form that accompanies every animal travelling in this country is not the same as the definiton given in this thread... every animal I send gets the 'pasture fed' box ticked. Most of those have had grain in their life-time.

 

[inbredredneck]

On the other hand...

Thats alot of the problem people trying to sell something that really isn't what they say it is. Myself on the other hand, I market my implanted, antibiotic and corn fed feedlot beef, exactly as what they are, all natural corn fed beef.

That just doesn't seem right.

It might not seem right to you, but in the real world implanted, antibiotic, corn fed cattle are 100% all natural.

 

[inbredredneck]

We fatten all of our feeder cattle on corn silage, corn, and wet corn distillers. Since it is all some form of corn and corn is a grass wouldn't that "technically" make them grass fed? lol I mean corn is a grain but its also a seed and grass has seeds also and corn is in the grass family so technically I am missing out on marketting my beef as grass fed.

see...this is the kind of rationalization of behavior that "technically" causes the need for standards and inspectors.....

would it not be just as easy to market it as corn fed and try to carve out your own niche instead of trying to infringe upon another one.?

I'm with pdfangus on this one find your own niche for marketing your beef, all the south american imported beef uses the grass fed claim.

 

[Tim/South]

About 5 years ago my son asked if we could fatten up a steer and sell it to one of his friends.
We did and he immediately asked us to get another one ready.
Word spread and we kept 4 or 5 on feed at a time.
The butcher asked how we got them so fat?
I was buying feed in the large bulk bags.
The feed blend is 30% soy hulls, 30% peanut hulls and 60% corn gluten.
The butcher asked me if we were selling them as grass fed? He said the hulls and gluten did not contain grain and we should charge more.
I have since quit fattening any for sale. People do not understand "hanging weight" but the biggest reason is after I looked at the books I was not really making much over what I would get if run through the sale.
That is my fault for not charging enough in the beginning.

Thee is a huge market for "farm raised" anything now days.
It has become a religion to some.

 

[highgrit]

Heck corn is on steroids now a days. Gotta pay extra for technology if you want the good stuff.

 

[inbredredneck]

Heck corn is on steroids now a days. Gotta pay extra for technology if you want the good stuff.

It is good stuff though, It is like everything else, we continue to produce more with less. Beef is a perfect example.

 

[jedstivers]

About 5 years ago my son asked if we could fatten up a steer and sell it to one of his friends.
We did and he immediately asked us to get another one ready.
Word spread and we kept 4 or 5 on feed at a time.
The butcher asked how we got them so fat?
I was buying feed in the large bulk bags.
The feed blend is 30% soy hulls, 30% peanut hulls and 60% corn gluten.
The butcher asked me if we were selling them as grass fed? He said the hulls and gluten did not contain grain and we should charge more.
I have since quit fattening any for sale. People do not understand "hanging weight" but the biggest reason is after I looked at the books I was not really making much over what I would get if run through the sale.
That is my fault for not charging enough in the beginning.

Thee is a huge market for "farm raised" anything now days.
It has become a religion to some.

Why don't you just raise your prices?

 

[iowafarmer]

We fatten all of our feeder cattle on corn silage, corn, and wet corn distillers. Since it is all some form of corn and corn is a grass wouldn't that "technically" make them grass fed? lol I mean corn is a grain but its also a seed and grass has seeds also and corn is in the grass family so technically I am missing out on marketting my beef as grass fed.

You're baffling yourself with your own BS.

I'm sorry that some people took my post seriously. It was meant as a joke to lighten the mood. We are all in the cattle industry and we all serve different parts of the industry. Maybe we should take the effort we put forth argueing with eachother and put it towards educating consumers. Just a thought since last time I checked 2% of the U.S. population farms anymore. That is a lot of people that are removed from the farm. Once they are a generation or two removed from the farm where are they going to get their information from? We are a minority. The customer is always right so rather than call them stupid (even though they might be dumber than a box of rocks) on how they make decisions try to explain to them what you do and relate to them. People don't base their decisions on facts and truths anymore, they base it off from feelings and emotions. That is how HSUS and PETA and such gain so much publicity and suppport is because they play off people's emotions that we abuse our animals and are evil and mean people. Mothers are who we need to be educating also because they are the ones that make the decisions on what they feed to their family. Mothers are very emotional and protective of their family. If they have any doubts about the safety of what they are feeding to their family they won't feed it. Just some things to think about and my two cents worth. :2cents:

P.S. Corn or Maize (if we are goin with its scientific name) is a member of the grass family.
Also we do not nor ever will market our corn fed beef as grass fed.

 

[inbredredneck]

Iowafarmer,


sarcasm the witty will have fun the stupid won't get it.