ddg1263":21u5butb said:Frankie, I can not believe you are taking up for those thieves. It plainly states that they have huge margins in the beef packing houses.
I'm not taking up for anyone. I'm just pointing out that your post was a one sided missive from R-CALF.
(18 month old cattle are cattle coming out of the feed lots)[/quote]The price paid to U.S. cattle ranchers in May 2009 for raising a Choice beef steer from birth to about 18 months of age was approximately $1,059. Consumers, however, who purchased the Choice beef after the packer slaughtered the animal, paid about $2,168 for the meat.
And this means what? So the cost to raise a calf was high. So were the salaries of people who got the calf from weaning to the consumer. You've got lots of transportation, death loss, wages, insurance, overhead to come out of that $2,168 (if indeed that's an accurate price. And, frankly, I don't trust R-CALF.)
Now if you can not make it on those margins, it is not because market conditions are against you. In corporations you can accelerate depreciation, salary out heavy wages to slim down your bottom line. But when we are talking about a stable income stream such as the food supply and then still have an operating profit of over 100%, it is UNREAL... The only reason they won the second case is because they are claiming it was due to natural market conditions that they made so much money. They fully admit to making a boat load of money, and they realise that many farmers are going out of business because of it, but what they are saying is that it is just because of natural business cycles are causing the increase in profits.
There are tax breaks for the producer, too. Many people wouldn't be in the cattle business if not for those tax breaks. Are you suggesting ranchers should be subsidized, like grain farmers? I certainly hope not.
OK, now I never heard of a second lawsuit. I understood the packers lost the case in a jury trial and won the appeal. Am I missing something?
I want to add that Tyson foods have operations beyond cattle.... so I am sure they are spreading out losses incurred from other ventures where they are establishing footholds. I know losses in chicken facilities were big last year.
Yes, they have other operations and many cattle producers have second jobs, too. So what's your point.
This is plain for everyone to see. These packers are putting farmers out of business, how long do you think this will continue before the food supply is disrupted? It is probably why it caught the attention of the government because if you can not feed the citizens of you have big problems on your hands. It is not like the bail out of the banks where they can print more money. You can not print a calf crop.... The people in the packing house should be ashamed. By the way I sold a nice load of calves the other day for an average of little over 300 dollars. I want to see anyone produce good looking Angus for that little of money.
Why would the packers want to put cattle producers out of business? Where will they get their inventory if we all go broke and stop raising cattle?
If you work for the packing industry, you need to communicate to them in the most direct way to stop squeezing the farmers out of business.
I don't work for anyone except myself. And don't show up too often for work there, either.