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High beef prices and the destruction of independent cattle ranching

mattstoller.substack.com

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Re: High beef prices and the destruction of independent cattle ranching

#71

Post by iszomer »

Server6 wrote: post #53
iszomer wrote: post #19

Breaking Points recently did a segment on this, if you're into this format of presentation: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3v7G9EDovQ

I can't take Breaking Points seriously. It's basically a mainstream media dunkfest that rides the line of being right-wing full blown crazy - which I suspect is a good chuck of their audience.

Be that as it may (a "right-wing full blown crazy" thing), you're missing the point of my reply. They did a short interview with a ranch farmer named Bill Bullard on this very topic.

Re: High beef prices and the destruction of independent cattle ranching

#72

Post by inetknght »

xd wrote: post #42
xu3u32 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am someone who usually gets their beef from costco, small middle eastern markets and sometimes when its on sale at the neighborhood grocery store (Publix). Would you mind sharing in what ways what I'm consuming is trash compared to what comes from small farms?

I took on some caged hens (about 6months back now) that were off for slaughter to be turned into dog food. Straight away they took to the patch of land in my garden I gave them and laid eggs .. the eggs they lay are on another level to anything store bought. I can put a pan of water on boil over a stove; crack an egg into it and have a perfect poached egg 2-3mins later. They are creamy and rich as if they have life c…

> That said I wouldn't recommend keeping hens unless you've had exposure to them on some level other than visiting a farm.

I recently bought a few acres in SE Texas and several people have recommend I raise chickens both for the eggs and also to help with some of the insects around here.

Why don't you recommend it?

Re: High beef prices and the destruction of independent cattle ranching

#73

Post by topkai22 »

I have in-laws in the independent ranching industry and the lack of slaughter house/packer capacity is a real problem. Around here at least supply and demand is working as there is a company trying to open up a new plant, but it is taking years to get past NIMBYism and environmental reviews.

I wonder if an alternative model is to look into public/private partnerships where the government establishes the land and permitting for additional meat packing plants and then offers it as a lease package to private business to construct and operate. The Feds seem to be better at ignoring NIMBYism and they certainly have enough BLM land out west.

Re: High beef prices and the destruction of independent cattle ranching

#74

Post by inetknght »

zwieback wrote: post #46
xd wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took on some caged hens (about 6months back now) that were off for slaughter to be turned into dog food. Straight away they took to the patch of land in my garden I gave them and laid eggs .. the eggs they lay are on another level to anything store bought. I can put a pan of water on boil over a stove; crack an egg into it and have a perfect poached egg 2-3mins later. They are creamy and rich as if they have life c…

I added a solenoid-operated latch to my chicken coop that opened when the sun came up. I didn't like getting up at 4:30 in the summer. At night I still manually closed it since I had to make sure I didn't lock a skunk or possum in with the chickens.

> I added a solenoid-operated latch to my chicken coop that opened when the sun came up.

That's pretty cool. Is it battery operated? Do you have your chicken coup next to your home or did you run power to the hen house?

Re: High beef prices and the destruction of independent cattle ranching

#75

Post by AnthonyMouse »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #35
lettergram wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having been all over the country it’s amazing to me how different Wyoming and say Tennessee are. The people in Tennessee already had to deal with the federal government implementing policies destroying the domestic tobacco industry. Btw this just means foreign farmers reap the profits. The federal government made the input costs to tobacco prohibitively expensive through taxes and regulations. They then converted mos…

Destroying tobacco? Wasn't $2B subsidies over the last decade, enough to keep it going?

The government is fully capable of doing two dumb things at the same time.

Re: High beef prices and the destruction of independent cattle ranching

#76

Post by wiredfool »

zwieback wrote: post #46
xd wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took on some caged hens (about 6months back now) that were off for slaughter to be turned into dog food. Straight away they took to the patch of land in my garden I gave them and laid eggs .. the eggs they lay are on another level to anything store bought. I can put a pan of water on boil over a stove; crack an egg into it and have a perfect poached egg 2-3mins later. They are creamy and rich as if they have life c…

I added a solenoid-operated latch to my chicken coop that opened when the sun came up. I didn't like getting up at 4:30 in the summer. At night I still manually closed it since I had to make sure I didn't lock a skunk or possum in with the chickens.

Funny, I had it auto open at 8am and close at civil twilight automatically, and it was the auto closing that was the much bigger deal for me.

Re: High beef prices and the destruction of independent cattle ranching

#77

Post by omeze »

inetknght wrote: post #72
xd wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took on some caged hens (about 6months back now) that were off for slaughter to be turned into dog food. Straight away they took to the patch of land in my garden I gave them and laid eggs .. the eggs they lay are on another level to anything store bought. I can put a pan of water on boil over a stove; crack an egg into it and have a perfect poached egg 2-3mins later. They are creamy and rich as if they have life c…

> That said I wouldn't recommend keeping hens unless you've had exposure to them on some level other than visiting a farm. I recently bought a few acres in SE Texas and several people have recommend I raise chickens both for the eggs and also to help with some of the insects around here. Why don't you recommend it?

Not GP but how'd you find the land? I'm from Texas (grew up but haven't lived as an adult) and was wondering how to find 1-2 acres

Re: High beef prices and the destruction of independent cattle ranching

#78

Post by AniseAbyss »

voakbasda wrote: post #21
MomoXenosaga wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The food in stores is cheap. And that matters to consumers more than whatever alleged quality small-time farmers can produce (was food actually better a hundred years ago? Doubt).

Studies repeatedly have shown that micronutrients do not get replenished in monoculture crops, resulting in a measurable decrease in nutrition available in food grown in that soil. So, yes, food was actually better a hundred years ago.

If you could afford it. Which is precisely where we find ourselves today isn't it? You can buy whatever artisanal produce you want. You can have your yak milk from Bhutan if you have the money. The plebeians will just have to do with the supermarket.

Re: High beef prices and the destruction of independent cattle ranching

#79

Post by zwieback »

inetknght wrote: post #74
zwieback wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I added a solenoid-operated latch to my chicken coop that opened when the sun came up. I didn't like getting up at 4:30 in the summer. At night I still manually closed it since I had to make sure I didn't lock a skunk or possum in with the chickens.

> I added a solenoid-operated latch to my chicken coop that opened when the sun came up. That's pretty cool. Is it battery operated? Do you have your chicken coup next to your home or did you run power to the hen house?

The coop was maybe 60 ft away so I opted for a battery that I'd have to recharge every few weeks. I don't have chickens right now but if I ever get more I'll use a small solar charger and maybe add a few more bells and whistles. I lost a lot of chickens to raccoons and hawks so maybe next time I'd actually do a fully enclosed chicken run.

Re: High beef prices and the destruction of independent cattle ranching

#80

Post by inetknght »

omeze wrote: post #77
inetknght wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That said I wouldn't recommend keeping hens unless you've had exposure to them on some level other than visiting a farm. I recently bought a few acres in SE Texas and several people have recommend I raise chickens both for the eggs and also to help with some of the insects around here. Why don't you recommend it?

Not GP but how'd you find the land? I'm from Texas (grew up but haven't lived as an adult) and was wondering how to find 1-2 acres

I went through a half dozen real estate agents. After several months and false starts, I found a real estate agent who was close to retiring, loved driving far, and liked looking at rural properties. During the week she'd send property listings to me and I'd yay/nay them. Then on the weekend we'd drive around and see three or four of them -- literally all-day affairs on Saturdays and half-days on Sundays. That went on for several months.

I moved from Houston to my new 5 acres in August after watching the housing market for a year and actively searching for a home for about 6 months.

Honestly the real selling point is that this home has AT&T gigabit fiber :)

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