Don’t believe for a minute all the U.S. beef supply can’t be outsourced just like our manufacturing.
http://news.mikecallicrate.com/i-dont-buy-it/
http://news.mikecallicrate.com/i-dont-buy-it/
Whoever controls the food controls the nation.
- Thread starter Cross-7
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DLD
Well-known member
Yep. This has been similar to my thoughts on our current situation for some time now. Whether or not it goes all the way to globalization (which I agree is the underlying current of pretty much all politics these days), I truly believe this has been precipitated for the benefit of the future vertical integration of U.S. beef production.
BK9954
Well-known member
It's called crony capitalism. Your in a capitalistic system but only one place to sell at a fixed price because the market is controlled.
sim.-ang.king
Well-known member
Corporate take over solved the "price problem" with hogs, and chickens...
...soon to be in a pasture near you.
...soon to be in a pasture near you.
HDRider
Well-known member
dd, can you tell me what they are?
I posted a long article about the cruelty of farming and eating beef and other animals. This article came from the RNC magazine.
One of the recurring comments on the article was how America will "out source" animal husbandry, and livestock production and processing to nations without the Vegan outcry, and bring the meat into the USA. Out of sight, out of mind.
My guess is the reason such a magazine would post such an article is to promote the American "acceptance" of foreign food even more so than we do now.
I got a bad feeling.
There was even an episode of a Netflix show, "The Ranch" that showed how Sam Elliott's character should operate as a corporate rancher. The softening up of attitudes is happening.
I posted a long article about the cruelty of farming and eating beef and other animals. This article came from the RNC magazine.
One of the recurring comments on the article was how America will "out source" animal husbandry, and livestock production and processing to nations without the Vegan outcry, and bring the meat into the USA. Out of sight, out of mind.
My guess is the reason such a magazine would post such an article is to promote the American "acceptance" of foreign food even more so than we do now.
I got a bad feeling.
There was even an episode of a Netflix show, "The Ranch" that showed how Sam Elliott's character should operate as a corporate rancher. The softening up of attitudes is happening.
Clodhopper
Well-known member
I've said all along that Farm Bureau and the like were lobbying for the big takeovers, in the name of "we don't want to limit the family farms' ability to expand." All they have done is pave the way for vertical integration.
In the early 90's and before, our county, which is home to a lot of poor ground, nearly every farm had hogs. Heck, many guys who had a couple acres or more had a few sows to go with their full time jobs. Now there is one 600 sow independent left and a few custom feeders, and the ones I know say it's barely worth it, but what else are you gonna do with a million tied up in hog barns? It's modern serfdom.
$7.00 corn knocked probably half the cattle out of the county. There's still quite a few left, but nothing like it was twenty years ago either.
In the early 90's and before, our county, which is home to a lot of poor ground, nearly every farm had hogs. Heck, many guys who had a couple acres or more had a few sows to go with their full time jobs. Now there is one 600 sow independent left and a few custom feeders, and the ones I know say it's barely worth it, but what else are you gonna do with a million tied up in hog barns? It's modern serfdom.
$7.00 corn knocked probably half the cattle out of the county. There's still quite a few left, but nothing like it was twenty years ago either.
HDRider
Well-known member
Trying taking a sow or a cow to a processor to sell as pieces to a customer. Small guy can't do it. Tyson can.
Cross-7
Well-known member
Out sourcing food just like most everything else weve done only works when you have the ability to print money.
When the rest of the world gets so many US dollars and they are worthless as the peso
The SHTF
When the rest of the world gets so many US dollars and they are worthless as the peso
The SHTF
HDRider
Well-known member
Another brick in the wall dd.
I'd encourage everyone to read the link on the original post. It is a rant, but it is truth.
I'd encourage everyone to read the link on the original post. It is a rant, but it is truth.
farmerjan
Well-known member
I have said for years that when all the food gets imported from places outside the US, and we are dependent on others for our "daily bread" that they will grab us by the balls and say SC**W YOU, now you will do as we say. It is only common sense. There was no reason for the prices to have swung as much as they did in the short time that they did.
There have always been cattle cycles, but everyone that I know kept saying, wow there aren't near as many cattle and now they are worth so much and we are going to raise some - or some more - and get rich. I sold as many of my heifer calves as I could and didn't keep any replacements, for 2 years; tried to get my son to do the same; kept telling him that it wouldn't last...wish we had sold 40 head of cows...could have bought back 80 head now for the same money....now everyone I know is holding their heifers hoping that the spring will bring better prices and I honestly don't see it happening. The only thing here is that it doesn't seem to matter what size they are they are bringing in the .90 to 1.00 range, so the added pounds will help. But offset that with the feed/hay costs, are you any better off??? Right now we have a ton of hay, left alot uncut this year, tried to manage our grass a little better and will have grazing for another month or more most places if it doesn't snow 3 feet. That will free up more hay to feed to these kept heifers....
But it is a matter of control. I am not planning on letting anyone control my food supply but it is being done in alot of small ways by the little guys who are farming a few acres and only raising a few animals. Ever notice that the price of feeder pigs in some areas are in the 75 to 100 dollar range now? There aren't many around. So the little guy can carve out the niche market to have a sow or two and raise a litter or two. But trying to make a living off a small enterprise is very very difficult without an off the farm job. Killing a beef or two and selling the meat is now USDA controlled which adds tremendously to the cost. So we sell halves....for how long before they try to control that....Like the raw milk deal. Can't sell it here in VA have to have cow/herd shares and it's on the quiet side....
Good post HD....
There have always been cattle cycles, but everyone that I know kept saying, wow there aren't near as many cattle and now they are worth so much and we are going to raise some - or some more - and get rich. I sold as many of my heifer calves as I could and didn't keep any replacements, for 2 years; tried to get my son to do the same; kept telling him that it wouldn't last...wish we had sold 40 head of cows...could have bought back 80 head now for the same money....now everyone I know is holding their heifers hoping that the spring will bring better prices and I honestly don't see it happening. The only thing here is that it doesn't seem to matter what size they are they are bringing in the .90 to 1.00 range, so the added pounds will help. But offset that with the feed/hay costs, are you any better off??? Right now we have a ton of hay, left alot uncut this year, tried to manage our grass a little better and will have grazing for another month or more most places if it doesn't snow 3 feet. That will free up more hay to feed to these kept heifers....
But it is a matter of control. I am not planning on letting anyone control my food supply but it is being done in alot of small ways by the little guys who are farming a few acres and only raising a few animals. Ever notice that the price of feeder pigs in some areas are in the 75 to 100 dollar range now? There aren't many around. So the little guy can carve out the niche market to have a sow or two and raise a litter or two. But trying to make a living off a small enterprise is very very difficult without an off the farm job. Killing a beef or two and selling the meat is now USDA controlled which adds tremendously to the cost. So we sell halves....for how long before they try to control that....Like the raw milk deal. Can't sell it here in VA have to have cow/herd shares and it's on the quiet side....
Good post HD....
farmerjan
Well-known member
This post by Cross-7 is so right and EVERYONE should read it. HD said it was a rant but really it's not so much as laying out all the little things that have crept up over the years to this point.... The NCBA has sold us out and everyone else except R-CALF that was against rescinding C O O L labeling. Read posts by our fellow farmers/ranchers in NZ and Australia where they get a premium for meat that is labeled as being local to their area/country. That is why there is the niche marketing and small local people are finding a market for their products. It is a pain to deal with the USDA approved slaughter facilities, and they cost out the azz in comparison to the local state inspected ones. I hate dealing with things like farmers markets and the public all the time, but it can be done. Problem is it makes it so much more expensive that the average little guy can't afford to buy the meat that he would like to, to support his neighbor down the road.Cross-7":2utwuovb said:
Not saying that COOL labeling was perfect...but did anyone ever think about this....How many things do we buy that are " 99% fat free, only 1% fat, low fat, " and all that hype???? Then comes along a rule that says MILK can only be labeled as "FULL FAT WHOLE MILK. and 2% low fat and 1% low fat" WHY NOT LABELED AS 96.75 % FAT FREE which is what whole milk is, or 98% fat free or "HORRORS" 99% fat free??? Today whole milk is 3.25% fat, not even the 3.5% fat that it was as a kid growing up!!!! And the dairy industry has supported this!!!!
So yeah, expect that the "vertical integration" will happen in the beef industry and not only will it drive the little guy out; What about the loss of GENETIC DIVERSITY when they go to animals that only "fit the system" ???? SCARY thoughts down the road.
hurleyjd
Well-known member
HDRider
Well-known member
hurleyjd":3afxgyy7 said:
JBS is...
JBS’s North American brands include Swift, 1855, Pilgrim’s Pride, Pierce, Gold Kist Farms and Del Dia.
In a company overview in the filing, JBS describes its business as one of the largest:
• Beef producers and exporters in the world with operations in the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Australia and Canada and a capacity to slaughter about 82,400 head of cattle daily;
• Poultry producers in the world, with operations in the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil and the United Kingdom and capacity to slaughter 13.8 million chickens per day;
• Pork producers in Brazil and the United States, with daily capacity to slaughter a combined 110,500 hogs in these markets (in addition to capacity in Australia to slaughter 4,000 hogs per day);
• Lamb and sheep producers and exporters in the world, with operations in Australia and daily slaughtering capacity of about 23,100 lambs;
• And suppliers of further processed and value-added meat products in the world, with a total production capacity of about 204,100 tonnes as of March 2016.
JBS also is one of the largest leather tanners in the world.
“Our fresh products include fresh and frozen cuts of beef, pork, lamb and sheep, whole chickens and chicken parts,” JBS said. “Our processed and value-added meat products include products that are cut, ground and packaged in a customized manner for specific orders and include frozen, cooked, canned, seasoned, marinated and consumer-ready products. In addition, we produce and sell animal byproducts that are derived from our beef processing.”
CottageFarm
Well-known member
HDRider":zt9vx7nl said:
Have to correct you there HDR, while the National Review has always been a conservative voice and fairly mainstream Republican, it is not, in any way, connected to the RNC. As a side note, I think WFB is probably rolling in his grave over that column. :2cents:
Clodhopper
Well-known member
farmerjan":2d034kt8 said:
I made a similar comment on the loss of genetic diversity on the breeds board, it didn't draw much attention, but it should have. Also, look at what they have done with commercial turkey and chicken, breeding them to the point that the birds can't even procreate! Hogs have greatly changed too, the modern commercial hog is fragile compared to those of a couple decades ago. The same will happen to cattle, all in the name of efficiency. Efficiency is needed, of course, but at what sacrifice? I think, long term, we are setting ourselves up for a big fall with modern livestock production practices. You can only fool with nature so long before she'll figure you out.
farmerjan
Well-known member
Clodhopper; I totally agree and sorry but I didn't see your post. There is so much on here that it's a wonder to figure out ways to read it all when my time is so limited. Since I also breed purebred chickens, I see all the time what genetics there are that can be lost. Luckily, with the new trend to have these little backyard flocks there is a resurgence in some of the rarer breeds as well as the more common ones. So, I hope that there will continue to be some pockets of different genetics around.
And there is some new interest in the hogs also for the homestead, as people are looking for hogs that will do what hogs were meant to do. But as you get to the bigger and bigger animals, it gets harder and harder to find anyone who will be able to keep a sustainable breeding population if they aren't getting diddly squat for their product (calves) in the general marketplace. It's happening already with this fixation on "black" cattle. I mean when did you ever see a black limousin 20-30 years ago??? They weren't black and neither were simmentals and now there are "BLACK HEREFORDS" REALLY?????? And all these composite breeds that are nothing more than crossbreds....
You're right we are setting ourselves up for a fall and when it happens, God bless whoever is able to hold on long enough with some of these other true breeds as they may be our only defense against starvation. I doubt I will live to see it but I'm afraid my son and further generations will..
And there is some new interest in the hogs also for the homestead, as people are looking for hogs that will do what hogs were meant to do. But as you get to the bigger and bigger animals, it gets harder and harder to find anyone who will be able to keep a sustainable breeding population if they aren't getting diddly squat for their product (calves) in the general marketplace. It's happening already with this fixation on "black" cattle. I mean when did you ever see a black limousin 20-30 years ago??? They weren't black and neither were simmentals and now there are "BLACK HEREFORDS" REALLY?????? And all these composite breeds that are nothing more than crossbreds....
You're right we are setting ourselves up for a fall and when it happens, God bless whoever is able to hold on long enough with some of these other true breeds as they may be our only defense against starvation. I doubt I will live to see it but I'm afraid my son and further generations will..
Clodhopper
Well-known member
Oh I didn't mean anything by it, I was just agreeing with you. My point was that it's apparent that very few are worried about the issue. I think it's an all our eggs in one basket issue, it seems we share a similar viewpoint.
