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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

#91

Post by matchbok »

AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #17
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?

It's true; it is. This year I bought half of a red angus cow straight from the farm. It turns red when it gets cooked. It's a sight to behold. The stuff you buy at the costco has been frozen and unfrozen at least twice before you buy it. That's already a meaningful difference. They clearly treat it with some sort of coloring agent. In the 30 years I have cooked meat, nothing can prepare you for real beef that comes s…

In absolutely no way does any beef sold in stores contain artificial color.

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

#92

Post by Mandatum »

bobthepanda wrote: post #29
ipaddr wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Association is a better concept or industry group

Farmers already do this, and they're called cooperatives. Some US big name brands that are cooperatives are Darigold, Land O' Lakes, Organic Valley, and Sunkist. The largest company in New Zealand is a dairy cooperative: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fonterra It's interesting that this is not common for meat, when it is for dairy. Wonder why that is.

Because meat isn't as commoditized, there's too many different grades and products. When 70%+ of your output turns into shelf-stable milk powder, it's all the same. Fonterra has kept local milk supplies in New Zealand at export prices for more than 15 years. It wasn't until recently that smaller independent co-op's formed and began selling processor-to-table and exporting themselves.

However now many of the processors are owned by the same companies or people, so processors who'd previously deal with these co-ops are signing exclusivity deals with Fonterra and they're being shut out of the market.

But we also have the income and GDP brought by Fonterra for the last 10-15 years to thank. Unfortunately we're seeing a lot of those profits off-shored or eaten up by corporate middlemen owned by conglomerates now.

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

#93

Post by adrr »

CreepGin wrote: post #70
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I buy grass-fed beef from my neighbor. There's no difference as far as I can see. I like to support my neighbor, but there's no magic, no difference cooking, no startling color-change tricks as reported elsewhere in this thread.

We have opposite experiences with pork and poultry. The meat we get from local homesteads are noticeably way better than store bought. Maybe beef is a different story. I don't know... During 2020 summer, we raised 4 peking ducks in our backyard. We gifted some of the processed meat to extended family members. And to this day, they still can't stop talking about how good the meat were.

Poultry that is free range is more stringy and chewy. It also much leaner and smaller. I lived off free range chicken when i worked summers on my grandfather's farm in Hawaii. It is all personal preference. If you order chicken pho at a Vietnamese restaurant it will most likely be free range chicken or what they call "Walking chicken". It is completely different than a Tyson Chicken from Costco with oversized breast meat.

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

#94

Post by hcurtiss »

voakbasda wrote: post #27
AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's true; it is. This year I bought half of a red angus cow straight from the farm. It turns red when it gets cooked. It's a sight to behold. The stuff you buy at the costco has been frozen and unfrozen at least twice before you buy it. That's already a meaningful difference. They clearly treat it with some sort of coloring agent. In the 30 years I have cooked meat, nothing can prepare you for real beef that comes s…

You are absolutely correct. It all starts with better nutrition. CAFO cows that end up at the supermarket are fed low-quality grains and feedstocks, rather than grass that they were evolved to eat. The difference between grain and grass fed beef is amazing. USDA processing is a complete farce. I can only sell locally, because I am not willing to send my animals to such facilities. Instead, I can only sell here in my…

I'm only one guy, but having raised and butchered several of both, I vastly prefer grain-finished steers. The trend toward lean grass-fed beef mystifies me. The fat and marbling with grain-finished animals is much higher, particularly if modestly confined, and that has at least historically earned a better grade. It's certainly easier to cook and preferred in my household.

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

#95

Post by inetknght »

jdhn wrote: post #86
inetknght wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 o…

AT&T fiber in a rural area? What's the closest major city?

I'm 15 minutes from Cleveland.

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

#96

Post by hackerfromthefu »

beebmam wrote: post #60
AnthonyMouse wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Easy enough to solve: tax wealth and redistribute it with a UBI. These are extremely independent problems. The problem with concentration isn't taxes, it's a regulatory environment that promotes concentration. You take money from Bezos, it doesn't change the size of Amazon. A UBI would help some by making it easier to start a small business, but unless you address the underlying regulatory problems that give every…

Quoted post unavailable.

Increased regulation that becomes burdensome to meet creates what business schools call a 'moat' around a business.

So the post you're referring to is educated, not delusional.

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

#97

Post by loudmax »

voakbasda wrote: post #10

As a small farmer, I can tell you: independent small-scale farming is not profitable in any meaningful manner. Government is actively killing it, by giving away every possible concession to Big Ag. The food in stores is pretty much all garbage compared to food raised on small farms. It sickens me to see things go this way, but this is the reality that we have created.

> Government is actively killing it, by giving away every possible concession to Big Ag.

If government were out of the picture would small-scale farmers be better able to compete with Big Ag? If you were making policy, what would you have government do instead?

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

#98

Post by hindsightbias »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #39
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 buy grass-fed beef from my neighbor. There's no difference as far as I can see. I like to support my neighbor, but there's no magic, no difference cooking, no startling color-change tricks as reported elsewhere in this thread.

A decade back, you couldn’t get grass-fed in any US metro, save the BA. And that was imported from Paraguay or Argentina.

Now it’s probably corn finished and pesticidy, but it does taste more like I remember as a kid.

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

#99

Post by voakbasda »

bee_rider wrote: post #67
voakbasda wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are absolutely correct. It all starts with better nutrition. CAFO cows that end up at the supermarket are fed low-quality grains and feedstocks, rather than grass that they were evolved to eat. The difference between grain and grass fed beef is amazing. USDA processing is a complete farce. I can only sell locally, because I am not willing to send my animals to such facilities. Instead, I can only sell here in my…

Any thoughts on Mobile Slaughter Units? Your focus on being less cruel to your cows is pretty admirable, but I don't really see how average consumers could evaluate whether their local farm is: * Putting in the sort of extra effort that you are * Following safety protocols more generally I dunno. I'm not super attached to meat, so I'd probably quit eating it before putting in the effort to eat it ethically. Actually…

The USDA allows Mobile Slaughter Units. My state does not have one, because it's too expensive to bootstrap. We're talking millions of dollars of capital expenditures to get one running, because you still need a non-mobile facility in which to finish processing and pack the meat.

None of the existing processors are willing to invest in such a venture, when their existing facilities are increasingly being regulated out of existence. No one is building new USDA facilities to serve small farmers.

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

#100

Post by CreepGin »

zwieback wrote: post #48
voakbasda wrote: post #10

As a small farmer, I can tell you: independent small-scale farming is not profitable in any meaningful manner. Government is actively killing it, by giving away every possible concession to Big Ag. The food in stores is pretty much all garbage compared to food raised on small farms. It sickens me to see things go this way, but this is the reality that we have created.

Nonsense - you can get everything from trash to exceptional quality food, depending on the store you buy it from. Not disputing your point that small farmers have it hard but on the consumer side there's lots of choice.

> Nonsense - you can get everything from trash to exceptional quality food, depending on the store you buy it from. Not disputing your point that small farmers have it hard but on the consumer side there's lots of choice.

When money is of no concern to you, sure. But reality is many people can't even afford to buy organic foods.

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