US Cattle Population At A 75 Year Low.

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teeceetx

teeceetx

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Cattle populations are being decimated by diseases brought by illegal aliens, who have been hired by cattle companies.

Couple that with the purchase of vast amounts of farm land and grazing land by oligarchs who are NOT allowing cattle production or farming on their lands, and you have a concerted effort to wipe out the beef and farming industries.

Food production is going to be a very real problem in the future.

But then again, population reduction is the endgame after all.
 
Cattle ranching is downsizing because of expanding overheads, onerous green regulations, and dietary concerns. However, the Beefalo industry is picking up, rapidly. The overall quality of the product is also getting better because smaller enterprises can micromanage all the better.
 
teeceetx said:
Cattle populations are being decimated by diseases brought by illegal aliens, who have been hired by cattle companies.

Couple that with the purchase of vast amounts of farm land and grazing land by oligarchs who are NOT allowing cattle production or farming on their lands, and you have a concerted effort to wipe out the beef and farming industries.
Food production is going to be a very real problem in the future.
But then again, population reduction is the endgame after all.
Click to expand...
We are getting other countries to provide most of the 'not-prime' beef we consume that does not end up in the meat counter (Wal-Mart not included :rolleyes:).
Our beef imports come from all over the world, apparently now including Paraguay. Other countries we import from include, but are certainly not limited to: Brazil, Uruguay, Australia, Namibia, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, Japan, China, and...the list continues.
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They can produce it much cheaper than we can.
We also export many prime cuts to wealthy countries.
So when you buy that really good steak, you are bidding against others.
Oddly enough, many are the same countries we import beef from:dunno::
Over the past 5 years, Japan and South Korea have been the top buyers of US beef. Together they make up almost half of the US exports. China and Mexico have also been large buyers of US beef. US exports are typically higher value cuts.
Click to expand...
Are you confused yet?
 
Thankfully I get half a cow a year from a cousin who raises it. I pay for the butchering, and it's done by an unlicensed local family who does a really great job. They even food saver the roasts and steaks. Hamburger is put in one or two lb tubes. Our amish neighbors that I drive kids to school for, do their own cow butchering each year, and that's fun to see each winter. A big skinned cow hanging from the tractor bucket the night before the cutting takes place is something to see. I know our next door neighbor balances how many he breeds, how many he sells at cow auction (every Tuesday that happens), what their family needs, but it's based on how many he can feed. He uses about 6 acres of our land for cows, he rents more acreage in someone else's pasture, and he has land where he grows feed for cows. So he says it's cheaper to rent pasture in the spring/summer than buy feed, but he has to go a distance to check on them and water them, and gets calls if they get out. Takes him awhile to go ten miles on a tractor. It is not uncommon for cows to be out on our road.
 
Almost all the farmers in my area have gotten out of beef production. The feedlots are gone. There's just no consistent profit in it for the little guy. The only ones hanging on are the cow-calf producers that have access to pasture land. The only pasture land left is the land that's so hilly that it's no good for row crop farming, and there's not much of that kind of land in central Iowa. My family's farm had creek bottom pasture and when I was a kid we ran 25-30 cows and a bull on it. My brother made the decision to tile all that pasture to drain it, and now it produces a lot of corn...
 
Spikedriver said:
Almost all the farmers in my area have gotten out of beef production. The feedlots are gone. There's just no consistent profit in it for the little guy. The only ones hanging on are the cow-calf producers that have access to pasture land. The only pasture land left is the land that's so hilly that it's no good for row crop farming, and there's not much of that kind of land in central Iowa. My family's farm had creek bottom pasture and when I was a kid we ran 25-30 cows and a bull on it. My brother made the decision to tile all that pasture to drain it, and now it produces a lot of corn...
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The trend is to micro-manage whatever it is you grow or raise...with value-added, direct marketing. I am currently working on a project in West Africa doing just that: a chicken grower I'm sponsoring learning how to surgically caponise their rooster chicks with onward, direct sales to restaurants...with the restaurants, themselves...setting up a signature capon dish indicative of their own restaurant. Soon...we'll be having a Chefs' Table...where all these chefs get together...each with their own special "sigdish"...for around-the-table sampling, comments and recipe tweaking for best economy and taste. The press will be there...and...exclusive continuing supply guaranteed for these restrateurs.
 
This is a tad off topic... but it is about herding cattle.

I have a childhood friend who, when he came back from the military, herded cattle all over south Texas by helicopter. I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around that.
 
A severe drought has decimated cattle production in the west since 2020 including texas. I keep up with such things. I raised beef until '18, my cousin runs a herd of heifers here now. I still get several cattle magazines. Prices are up now because breeding stock was sold off by the thousnads in most of the states out west. Lots of ranchers had to close up shop.

NPR has an article
"Droughts are hitting cattle ranchers hard – and that could make beef more expensive"

https://www.kvpr.org/npr-news/npr-n...-hard-and-that-could-make-beef-more-expensive

They were right! Selling off breeding stock precedes a shortage. Even the nut jobs at cnn wrote about it that year...

"Nearly 80% of the western region of the US is experiencing extreme drought conditions...
....forced 40% of farmers to sell off part of their herds...."

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/25/business/drought-farmers-cows/index.html

I talk with beef producers every day, haven't heard about an out break of tb or anything else.
 
Peanut said:
A severe drought has decimated cattle production in the west since 2020 including texas. I keep up with such things. I raised beef until '18, my cousin runs a herd of heifers here now. I still get several cattle magazines. Prices are up now because breeding stock was sold off by the thousands in most of the states out west. Lots of ranchers had to close up shop.

They were right! Selling off breeding stock precedes a shortage. Even the nut jobs at cnn wrote about it that year...

"Nearly 80% of the western region of the US is experiencing extreme drought conditions...
....forced 40% of farmers to sell off part of their herds...."

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/25/business/drought-farmers-cows/index.html

I talk with beef producers every day, haven't heard about an out break of tb or anything else.
Click to expand...
Maybe cattle will reappear on the beef cattle ranches in the southeast that have been dormant for decades (like the one I grew up on).
Raising beef cattle may become profitable again.:)
It always baffled me that they had to sell their product at auction, where the buyers (not the seller), gets to set the price :mad:.
 
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