Beef Prices

[john in la]

Went to the small local grocery this morning to pick up a few things while I play ineligible bachelor for 2 weeks.
Noticing the wide differance in price between pork/chicken and beef.
You can also notice the differance in product consistency that pork/chicken has that beef does not have.
Realizing that pork/chicken market has been taken over by the mega companies where the mother company controls everything it got me to wondering.

With 200+ bushel a acre corn; modern hay harvest equipment; relatively cheap transportation; how long will it be before some big mega company steps in and does to the beef industry what they have done to pork/chicken in the past and what is happening to dairy as we speak.

One can scoff at the idea but bringing beef into the modern world would sure standardize the genetics and get rid of all the woods cows some raise all while reducing the price to the consumer.

 

[David G]

It already is, Cargill is one of the largest beef producers.

 

[Ray IN]

I think that lower feed efficiency in beef production limits the profitability for large scale take-over. As it is, many cattle are raised on grass and hay that would go to waste otherwise. Plus there are many small producers that just like to have a few cattle and do not really worry about how profitable is. Any business small or large that would have to rely on purchased feed of any kind to raise cattle from start to finish is not going to be viable. I can make way more money selling hay than I can feeding it.

 

[NY 986]

I generally agree with this. Still plenty of people out there willing to do it as a hobby and can do so as the inputs are fairly cheap. Especially when compared to crop farming and in particular row crops. Don't have to buy the best quality land in a given area which puts you in competition with grain farmers. Plenty of ground in New York that is not suited for corn or soybeans which is fine for making lower quality hay or pasture. Poorer quality soil only gets to be an issue when you try to do it on scale such as an enterprise meant for a high profit margin.

 

[Bruce from Can.]

My understanding is some were around half the beef consumed is dairy beef. Meaning cull milk cows, veal calves and dairy steers and bulls that get finished out. While they mostly don?t show up in the super market as steaks and roast, tremendous amount of beef is not eaten in the form of prime cuts. Good old burger, deli meats, hot dogs, and also go into things like frozen entrees, meat pies and soup. One time or another everyone will eat dairy beef, and not even know it.

 

[Russ from MN]

My wife bought a nice pork roast recently for $1.88 a pound, if we want red meat we eat venison out of the freezer!

 

[fastfarmall]

And slaughter facilitys !

 

[ss55]

Corporate takeover of feedlot beef production is probably inevitable within a generation or sooner. Most small farms in the grain belt have abandon livestock and are not likely to return, especially as the average age of farmers passes retirement age. Today's mid-size farms and agricultural lenders are not interested in taking on the risks and commitments of starting up a large number of small feedlots. Larger feedlots with corporate management, investments in top genetics, and financing from mutual funds might offer the highest efficiency with the least risk.

There will always be a high number of hobby producers that grow for their own family's needs. But, like other farm commodities, the volume of production will shift to largest producers.

 

[larbear]

I read an exchange on here this last year where fellas commented on the fact that pork from a supermarket smelled a little like the environment it came from, that is a facility with a large concentration of manure in a closed space. I believe similar efficiencies are being developed in the cattle industry to that of pork and chicken, fast growing and heavy meat. These genetics are desirable I guess for large scale production though I do think that as a quality product it will give the masses what they think they want but in reality be tasteless and ultimately not that good for anyone nutritionally. I've kept a few cattle for all but one of the thirty years I have been back from the west, I enjoy it and haying, I think it is theraputic. As far as animal protein in my diet, more and more I prefer to not eat it. The way it plugs a guy up and the tendency to feed a culture of over consumption is something to get away from. The Seventh Day Adventis tend to go lighter on their consumption of animal protein and are being noted as a population that are doing well in terms of longevity. As we age our job is to stay healthy by any means necessary.

 

[caterpillar guy]

I was going to say it has been going on for more than 20 years to some extent already. Cargill and I think some of the other big packers have done or tried some of it already too.

 

[Lazy WP]

Not likely to happen on much of a scale. Supposedly you can't own all the aspects. Local guy in Nebraska had to split his ranch, feedlot and packing plant up. He couldn't own them all.

 

[workstinks]

here is a link that confirms many of the replies

https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/09/17/yup-80-of-our-beef-comes-from-4-producers.aspx

 

[morgan in ar]

I sure hope it doesn't come to pass. Cattle are the main agricultural enterprise in places like this. I hate to think that I wouldn't be able to load up the calves that I own, and take them to a local market. I get a mostly fair price at the sale barn according to what I take, from nice Angus 7 weights ready for the feed lots to spent longhorn cows ready for the hotdog factory. The packing industry has developed to be able to use all of them. I don't know of another facet of agriculture where I could still operate so independently, but still have a reliable market. I could grow vegetables or pasture pork, but I would have to spend all my time marketing it myself.

 

[formenwhogrow]

You do know that pork, in its traditional form is supposed to be red in color right?

 

[MJMJ]

(quoted from post at 19:48:59 12/29/19) here is a link that confirms many of the replies

https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/09/17/yup-80-of-our-beef-comes-from-4-producers.aspx

Actually, what this confirms is that most people don't understand the beef industry at all. Those companies are not producers, they're processors. Producers are the cow-calf operations all over the country. There are thousands upon thousands of producers.
They are two [u:4f1d500fec]very[/u:4f1d500fec] different things. [b:4f1d500fec][/b:4f1d500fec]

 

[1948CaseVAI]

(quoted from post at 23:24:51 12/29/19) You do know that pork, in its traditional form is supposed to be red in color right?

Most people will not willingly eat red pork, therefore the advertising slogan (at least around here) calling pork "the other white meat."

 

[Traditional Farmer]

That is true but the limited number of processors can virtually control the volume and price of beef.Nothing will change until a large group of producers band together to process their beef
which will probably never happen.Large contract producers now get a better price than small producers that sell on the open market.

 

[MJMJ]

(quoted from post at 11:40:26 12/30/19) Large contract producers now get a better price than small producers that sell on the open market.

Of course they do, as they should.
How is that a bad thing? That's how a free market works.

 

[john in la]

That is really what I was talking about. The
producers.

Say if a big company came in and controlled the
genetics to produce a consistent product that grows
at a fast rate. Just like they did with meat chickens.

Then they could contract with growers to raise the
product under controlled conditions. Once again just
like meat chickens.

 

[MJMJ]

You lost me with the meat chicken deal. Meat chickens are simply a hybrid of white rock and cornish chickens. No "controlled genetics", you can breed your own if you'd like.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

First off I didn't say it was a bad thing you made that up.2nd it really isn't a free market its a borderline monopoly at best.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

You are wrong there the large poultry outfits have their own genetics they have bred up.

 

[MJMJ]

(quoted from post at 14:05:33 12/30/19) First off I didn't say it was a bad thing you made that up.2nd it really isn't a free market its a borderline monopoly at best.

No, I didn't make anything up. I asked a question because you're making no sense at all. I'm trying to figure out what you're talking about.
And no, I'm not wrong about meat chickens being a simple hybrid. Of course many growers have their own genetic line they prefer to use, that's common sense. They're dealing with millions of chickens and if they can reduce growing time by one day that's money added to the bottom line. But they're still hybrids and that's why they grow so fast. Anyone can breed their own hybrid cornish rocks and get a bird that'll grow to butcher weight in a few weeks.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

Might be hybrids but not of any genetics you can just go out and buy.Do what you are describing and the chickens won't grow half as fast as the ones in commercial operations.