Caustic Burno
Well-known member
[/quote]Angus/Brangus":1bqvxbb8 said:MikeC":1bqvxbb8 said:Was at a seminar a few years ago and listened to several speakers......... from Feedlot operators to Packing house reps, Producers, and all in between.
Their whole message was that small time ranching is ruining the cattle industry as we know it.
In no particular order (from memory)
1-They usually have no working facilities therefore have no health program and raise calves that have high mortality/death rates after they leave the farm. (Everyone, large and small ranches alike pay for the risks that buyers take)
2-Most rob the calves off the cows when they need a few dollars, take them to the sale barn, and are satisfied with the price paid whether it pays the bills or not. (NO marketing)
3-Buy high priced feed in the bag, thus pushing the price up for everyone. Same goes for seed and fertilizer.
4-Usually have crossbred mongrels with inconsistant carcass qualities because of the cheap bulls purchased and/or retained, plus the replacements raised that shouldn't be on the farm to start with.
These guys were merely trying to push the small producer into doing a better job.
I'm not sure how small time ranching ruins the over all cattle industry. I've seen hobby ranchers treat their cattle 10 times better than the some of the larger operations. I would think that the various vendors would eat up the buying dollars of the smaller ranchers. In any case, I've seen many "experienced" cattle people fit the desciption above.
Caustic":1bqvxbb8 said:This is one of the main reasons you see the crusty's giving the rookies a fit. It doesn't matter if you have 10 cows or a 100 learn to operate as a business.
I'm sure everyone of us have driven by large expanses of acreage to see cows that look like they ought to be put down and nothing but weeds growing. And I'm sure we have all met "crusties" who have had cattle for 30 years but they still haven't learned anything about land/grass/cattle management. Most of the newbies I have met make a lot of mistakes but they learn from them and continuously improve.
Those who want to point the finger at entry level ranchers for their own problems maybe should think about doing something else for a living and get out of the way of progress.
They are easy to spot work in Houston or the city drive a King Ranch diesel you can load the entire ranch in one 26 foot gooseneck. But most important of all is they have a belt buckle the size of a hubcap and they are more hat than cattle.
I have to this day never met a true cattleman that wasn't tighter than a crabs butt and thats waterproof.
You make your money on the frontend of this business by controlling cost. The backend prices are set.