Won’t fit the box anymore

[SBMF 2015]

For as long as I can remember screamed and cried that finished cattle have to "Fit the Box" For some reason that has all changed.
Fit the box- refers to the steaks being relatively similar and fit in an imaginary box. 1,350-1,450 lb finished cattle typically fit the box.
In the last six months the reoccurring theme has been big cattle 1,600lbs that are yg 3 or 4 are the cattle that top the sales. They have to be making really big steaks that don't fit the box.
Has portion control gone out the window? Who is buying these big cuts of beef? Is it the restaurant trade or are the packers cutting those big steaks in half and making two smaller portions that they can charge just a little more for?

 

[Rmc]

It is going to burger. In the us of cattle are over 30 months old the can't be cut bone in all must be cut boneless.
So at that age all will either be ground or boneless cuts that will need some form of tenderizing.

 

[SBMF 2015]

It is going to burger. In the us of cattle are over 30 months old the can't be cut bone in all must be cut boneless.
So at that age all will either be ground or boneless cuts that will need some form of tenderizing.

1,590lb steers at $1.85 are not going to hamburger.
That 1,710lb foundered str that I sold last week, brought a $1.40 might be hamburger. But the good cattle are going somewhere besides the cow plants.
The sale barn that I go to has a buyer for a kosher plant. He always pays a premium for the best cattle, but somebody has to be pushing him.

 

[50/50Farms]

Anything over 1,500 lbs would have to be some pretty damn big steaks I'd think, about like those damn UFO type cuts you can get off of the slaughter cows.

 

[Travlr]

For as long as I can remember screamed and cried that finished cattle have to "Fit the Box" For some reason that has all changed.
Fit the box- refers to the steaks being relatively similar and fit in an imaginary box. 1,350-1,450 lb finished cattle typically fit the box.
In the last six months the reoccurring theme has been big cattle 1,600lbs that are yg 3 or 4 are the cattle that top the sales. They have to be making really big steaks that don't fit the box.
Has portion control gone out the window? Who is buying these big cuts of beef? Is it the restaurant trade or are the packers cutting those big steaks in half and making two smaller portions that they can charge just a little more for?

I keep wondering if the global warming hype has gotten the government into the act, and they are subsidizing cattle buyers to thin out the cattle population.

I'm enough of a scientist so I understand the legitimacy behind climate change, but some of the popular belief misinformation attributed to Agriculture is just ridiculous and I can imagine know-nothing politicians being swayed by it and doing some crazy crap under the table to make things worse in the idea that they are doing good. After all... it's what politicians do best.

And then there are other ideas. The ME has been spending all kinds of money for years on everything from cars to dairy cattle to exceptional sports figures. Maybe their money is jacking up prices, but I have no idea why or how.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Boxes got bigger.

Nothing to see here. Move along...

 

[SBMF 2015]

Boxes got bigger.

Nothing to see here. Move along...

The boxes wouldn't have gotten bigger unless there was profit in it for the packers.

 

[Dave]

Some years ago I was told by a man who retains ownership that if the cattle got too big where he fed them it didn't matter. The owners of the feedlot where his cattle got fed also own a kill plant. That company does a large amount of business in export beef. Were the bigger carcasses shipped over seas? I don't know. But there has been an increase in export beef. Are these bigger carcasses getting shipped? Could be your answer.