Wow. Somebody needs to kill more cows.

[Dan H]

I'm 5th generation farmer here in southern Iowa, what I remember about the 80's was that I was happy to get through them.
As far as farmers liking to whine, I have a joke.

3 hookers are standing on a corner discussing their clients from the previous night.
Lady #1 says "I had a lawyer last night." The other two wanted to know how she knew. "Well he had a 3 piece suit and a briefcase he never let go of the whole time we were doing it."
Lady #2 says "I had a cowboy, he had a cowboy hat and boots and didn't take either off will we were doing it.
Well lady #3 pipes up," I had a farmer, first he complained I was too wet, then too dry, and he promised to pay me in the fall."

 

[Jay Honeck]

Gulf shrimp 24's are $12 a pound.

You need to come to de island, mon. We buy our shrimp off the boats for $5 - $6/pound.

 

[Matthew]

I know people love their meat, and I'm ready to duck and run, but...

I have been a vegetarian (ovo-lacto) for about 40 years. At 65, I seem to be at least as healthy as my meat eating friends.

I got matched with Karen, now my wife, on eHarmony. One of the criteria was that we were both vegetarians.

She's a great cook, and for us at least, our meals do not seem to lack anything for their lack of meat.

Anyway, one way to deal with high meat prices is to just eat less meat. Meat is very resource-intensive, and is bound to get even more expensive over time.

Just a thought, don't mean to seem preachy, and I'll bow out now, since these conversations tend to turn pretty snarky pretty fast.

Nothing wrong at all with that, and I'm a pretty good carnivore. Not as much as Ron Swanson though. I do like vegetarian, you have to be creative sometimes, a few nights a week.

 

[denverpilot]

I just paid $12 for a whole chicken. Quality beef is $17-20 a pound. Fish depending on what it is runs about the same as beef. Gulf shrimp 24's are $12 a pound.



I can't imagine what fast food has to do to sell a meal for $5.

They don't. One of my favorite inflation indicators is McDonald's. They serve the identical products coast to coast, and prices of the main menu products have steadily climbed for years.

The "dollar menu" is a loss-leader.

Pick something off of the main menu, it's usually six or seven bucks, minimum. Some as high as eight plus.

Two regular sandwiches by themselves with no cheap fries added in for filler, is guaranteed over $12 now. No matter the sandwich.

 

[murphey]

I have the ultimate solution! Eat more carrots!! ....ok, I can't do it either. Mmm, I'd sure love some venison chili. Is that something you can get at whole foods? It's sure not at any typical grocery store I go to.

Easy to get bison in Colorado. Have you checked the price of brisket or tenderloin at Costco? Much more reasonable. I prefer the fish at WF, tho. King salmon on sale right now, end of the season.

 

[Matthew]

Will be heading to Sam's in a day or two to stock up. The prices will be what the prices will be.

 

[Jimmy cooper]

Forgot to mention the tremendous subsidies given by you the taxpayer for this idiotic program. It's over 50 cents per gallon. This coupled with the outlandish money given to the farmers makes you food much more expensive. It need not be that way. Vote. The other super ripoff is gasoline. There is a glut of oil, lots of it. Gas Is way way overpriced. The lemmings just say nothing. Don't forget the head of exxons retirement bonus he received a few years back, not his salary, just the retirement bonus, 370 million dollars. Then of course we give exxon bad the other oil company's tremendous tax breaks. It's our own fault. Vote.

 

[ron22]

You need to come to de island, mon. We buy our shrimp off the boats for $5 - $6/pound.

Don't like shrimp. What is the cost of Beef on the island

 

[FastEddieB]

Gas Is way way overpriced. The lemmings just say nothing. Don't forget the head of exxons retirement bonus he received a few years back, not his salary, just the retirement bonus, 370 million dollars. Then of course we give exxon bad the other oil company's tremendous tax breaks. It's our own fault. Vote.

An overpriced commodity is a glorious opportunity to become very, very rich.

I assume you know a way to locate, drill for, transport, refine and distribute gasoline for the cheaper "fair price" you've determined.

Please do so and I promise I will buy your product.

Unless it's just talk.

 

[Turningfinal]

Just picked up a quarter of grass fed beef for about $7/lb, all said and done.

I never buy beef from the store anymore. Fark that.

 

[Everskyward]

I'm always surprised by people who talk about buying a quarter or more of a beef. They must have large families! A quarter beef would last me the rest of my life.

But I usually don't cook or eat beef at home. Only occasionally in restaurants...

 

[Matthew]

I'm always surprised by people who talk about buying a quarter or more of a beef. They must have large families! A quarter beef would last me the rest of my life.

But I usually don't cook or eat beef at home. Only occasionally in restaurants...

Was at one of the meat markets in downtown KCK a couple months ago. The lady in front of me had a big flatbed cart loaded with a couple hundred pounds of beef, and another 50 or so pounds of chicken. I was wondering how I could get all that home with me, then she turned to me and mentioned she had 4 teenage boys at home.

 

[Dav8or]

I really don't get it. Maybe some of you farm folk could clue me in. Why can't some farmers grow corn for food and feed and other farmers grow switch grass for ethanol? The production of ethanol from switch grass is estimated to be 20x more efficient than corn. Switch grass can also be grown on marginal farm land, so areas that are now not being used for crops could be. Clearly there is demand for corn without using it for ethanol, so nobody goes broke.

Fine, farmers want a hand out and have a powerful lobby, but why can't we use this subsidy and mandate for ethanol to point them in the right direction instead of the wrong one???

 

[Swampfox201]

I really don't get it. Maybe some of you farm folk could clue me in. Why can't some farmers grow corn for food and feed and other farmers grow switch grass for ethanol? The production of ethanol from switch grass is estimated to be 20x more efficient than corn. Switch grass can also be grown on marginal farm land, so areas that are now not being used for crops could be. Clearly there is demand for corn without using it for ethanol, so nobody goes broke.

Fine, farmers want a hand out and have a powerful lobby, but why can't we use this subsidy and mandate for ethanol to point them in the right direction instead of the wrong one???

I cant grow switchgrass because i have no market which to sell it to. I do however have a corn ethanol plant just down the road.

 

[Henning]

An overpriced commodity is a glorious opportunity to become very, very rich.

I assume you know a way to locate, drill for, transport, refine and distribute gasoline for the cheaper "fair price" you've determined.

Please do so and I promise I will buy your product.

Unless it's just talk.

Lol, and you think this is a good thing? That entire rational is why radical Islam is after the West, and why they will win. Over 4000 years with a simple set of rules for a peaceful and prosperous society, in all that time we have not been able to follow them.

When you have a monopoly on an imagination valued commodity that everyone needs to survive you have an even better system of getting rich. That's our financial industry.

 

[FastEddieB]

Lol, and you think this is a good thing?

Well, it motivated people to provide the fuel for the boats you pilot, for the boats themselves, for the fuel for your plane, for your plane itself and for the insurance that you needed in your recent incident. Not to mention the device(s) you use to put forth your ideas.

Maybe in some perfect future world we may be able to do away with the profit motive. A noble idea, idealized in song...

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

Imagine...

But until then, capitalism is what we have.

And finally, saying "radical Islam will win" paints what is, for me, a bleak future - far bleaker than anything capitalism has wreaked. If you really think it's a better plan, maybe use some of your insurance proceeds and instead of buying another plane, hop on a plane to Syria, and join the winning side? Live a pure life sans usury and oil and build the hydrogen infrastructure within which the glory of Islam can come to fruition.

How's that sound?

 

[Alexb2000]

Lol, and you think this is a good thing? That entire rational is why radical Islam is after the West, and why they will win. Over 4000 years with a simple set of rules for a peaceful and prosperous society, in all that time we have not been able to follow them.

My respect meter just bottomed out.

What's happened to you?

 

[Matthew]

Where are you shopping for Brisket at those prices?

I just paid $3.49 at Costco.

My restaurant supply store is $3.39 for generic, $3.49 for certified Angus.

Buddy in Austin paid $2.50 at HEB.

Pork is also back down from this spring.

Got the rest of the story. I asked a guy at the meat counter why that brisket cost so much. He said, "Because somebody will buy it."

Sam's prices here are about $3.79 and case prices are something like $3.59.

 

[James_Dean]

The prices I had above were for Brisket, not ground beef.

The prices I had above were from Costco and from a restaurant supply house (that sells retail). Both are more "wholesale" type of operations than a "Average retail" type of operation.


There are a couple of interesting dynamics that have happened.

First, the piglet virus killed much of last winter/spring piglet crops, enough to seriously jack the prices of pork, resulting in less substitute for beef. And, as Beef supplies dwindled, pork issues, the costs of many proteins went up, including beef.

Also, ground beef is increasing due to people being priced out of steaks and roasts.

Every action has a reaction in a commodity market like beef.


And, per your link, the average price of ground beef is only $3.45

As I said, you're doing better than most, and beef packing plants and cutout values don't work like you're indicating here. You also linked to a regional price, not the national. Not worth the argument space except that it is accurate to say that the vast majority of consumers do not have access to $3.50/lb brisket.

 

[Henning]

Well, it motivated people to provide the fuel for the boats you pilot, for the boats themselves, for the fuel for your plane, for your plane itself and for the insurance that you needed in your recent incident. Not to mention the device(s) you use to put forth your ideas.

Maybe in some perfect future world we may be able to do away with the profit motive. A noble idea, idealized in song...

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

Imagine...

But until then, capitalism is what we have.

And finally, saying "radical Islam will win" paints what is, for me, a bleak future - far bleaker than anything capitalism has wreaked. If you really think it's a better plan, maybe use some of your insurance proceeds and instead of buying another plane, hop on a plane to Syria, and join the winning side? Live a pure life sans usury and oil and build the hydrogen infrastructure within which the glory of Islam can come to fruition.

How's that sound?

Western pseudoCapitalism IS what is wreaking your Islamic future. It's not actually capitalism we live under, it's a lie because we do not have a true free market. We live under Financial Feudalism, there is only one financial market we are allowed to participate in. It's that way because it's what you want, at least you don't understand that it's what's costing our economy, our culture, and our species its future, so best stick with it because you really can't 'imagine'.

I'm all for true and proper capitalism, with a real resource based currency.

 

[JoseCuervo]

Got the rest of the story. I asked a guy at the meat counter why that brisket cost so much. He said, "Because somebody will buy it."

Sam's prices here are about $3.79 and case prices are something like $3.59.

My little "full service" grocery store won't stock brisket as they would sell so few, never go thru a case of it. He said they would have to charge too much.

Very few people want to cook 14 pounds of the worst cut of beef, as most would make something in edible. It is a "wholesale" cut.

Brisket for sub-$3.99 seems about right... If you are going to cook that big of a piece of meat, you likely shop at SAMs Club already....

 

[JoseCuervo]

As I said, you're doing better than most, and beef packing plants and cutout values don't work like you're indicating here. You also linked to a regional price, not the national. Not worth the argument space except that it is accurate to say that the vast majority of consumers do not have access to $3.50/lb brisket.

I just clicked on the link provided. If it was linked to regional, then that is what I saw. I didn't go looking for selective data to confirm a bias.

Why do you claim the vast majority of consumers don't have access to a SAMs Club or a Costco? (Or a BJs, or, similar restaurant supply house?). Like I said above, HEB was running $2.50 briskest in Texas. I pay $3.50 and am 2000 miles from Texas. Not a regional thing, I don't think.

 

[James_Dean]

Yep, and waste. We are wasting feed on fuel. Why does the farmer price keep going down and feed prices up?

When I started in animal protein a ton of finished feed was around $90/ton in central Iowa. I saw prices as high as $360/ ton in the summer of 2013 as the effects of the 2012 drought were realized. It takes about 3.15 lbs of feed to make one dozen eggs in a modern commercial facility.

In a straight corn/soy diet for egg layers, corn would represent approx 60% of the ration, or 1200 lbs/ finished ton. At 56 lbs per bushel you have 21.4 bushels per ton. Crunch through the math and a $1 change per bushel changes the cost to produce a dozen eggs by about $0.035.

We can't feed soybeans until they are processed into soy oil and soybean meal. They must be heat treated to be fed. Soybean processors(ADM, Cargill, Bunge, etc) buy beans from farmers, crush them, then sell oil and meal. So, high crude oil drives a higher crush margin and the demand for beans. Biodiesel and it's tax credit is a big driver here to and that program is very much in flux. Bean meal makes up about 21% of a ration and soymeal has gone from $200/ton to over $600 per ton last week. A $100 change in soymeal changes the cost of a dozen eggs by about $0.035/dozen.

The other 19% of the diet is made up of fat, vitamins, minerals such as calcium carbonate and dicalcium phosphate, synthetic amino acids, and bacterial control agents. All of these items are either extremely expensive per ton and variable based on global demand or are heavily dependent upon the price of freight. All have increased substantially in the last five years. Chinese demand and high crude oil are to blame. For example, our vitamin additive package is over $5000/ton and up from $3500 only a few years ago. Currently this portion of the ration is nearly 28% of our average ration cost and will increase as soymeal normalizes as the current harvest commences.

We can/do use alternative feed ingredients as the cost and availability work. Dried distillers grains from ethanol production, meat and bone meal from packing plants, dried whey, bakery byproduct meal, wheat and canola meal to name a few. These products can significantly reduce the cost of rations with moderately increased risks that must be mitigated.

As for ethanol? In my opinion, the massive increase in Chinese demand and increases in their standard of living have much more to do with protein prices than ethanol policy. Doesn't mean I don't hate ethanol, I certainly do. It burns my ass that my mills have to compete with the plants, but in the grand scheme it doesn't have a crazy impact on consumer prices.

Eggman

 

[Dav8or]

I cant grow switchgrass because i have no market which to sell it to. I do however have a corn ethanol plant just down the road.

Makes sense, but what is so different about a corn ethanol plant and a switch grass ethanol plant? Aren't they both pretty much just a distillery? I'm sure there are differences but I would bet that the conversion would be pretty simple.

If there were a switch grass ethanol plant down the road and they payed you the same as the corn, would you grow it then? Does switch grass require special harvesting machinery, or planting techniques that are difficult? Special fertilizer? I have no idea.

Most Americans are sympathetic towards farmers and that's why it's easy to keep the subsidies coming. Most Americans believe that energy independence is a good thing and so ethanol mandates continue. Most Americans believe that growing food to use as a fuel is a bad thing. There is a disconnect.

I suspect that the reason we ended up here had a lot to do with the path of least resistance and the big ag businesses and their money. I'm guessing that there are big companies like Monsanto that sell corn seeds and they also sell specialized fertilizer for corn. Then there are the companies that make specialized equipment to harvest the corn. In the interest of selling the stuff they have and spent so much R&D on, they likely told farmers that switch grass was problematic and that they had no solutions. The ethanol plant was built out for the crop we knew and not the one we didn't. We expanded and maintain status quo because that was easiest and most profitable. Any of this sound right, or am I full of it. (Likely)

The problem I have with it, isn't the subsidies, or the mandates. It's that the government is forcing the situation, but is accepting and going along with the wrong solution to the mandate. It seems to me that the government could just as easily mandate that ethanol be made from switch grass. I suspect that the reason this is not the case is, that the corporations in this country are stronger than the government, so we have to live with stupidity.

 

[Geico266]

I really don't get it. Maybe some of you farm folk could clue me in. Why can't some farmers grow corn for food and feed and other farmers grow switch grass for ethanol? The production of ethanol from switch grass is estimated to be 20x more efficient than corn. Switch grass can also be grown on marginal farm land, so areas that are now not being used for crops could be. Clearly there is demand for corn without using it for ethanol, so nobody goes broke.

Fine, farmers want a hand out and have a powerful lobby, but why can't we use this subsidy and mandate for ethanol to point them in the right direction instead of the wrong one???

There are several things city folks don't understand about corn and ethanol production. If you take 100 bushels of corn to the ethanol plant you get back 97 bushels of cattle / animal feed back. The only product the ethanol plant uses is the sugar in the corn. You don't use or lose 100 bushels of corn, you only use 3.

 

[James_Dean]

There are several things city folks don't understand about corn and ethanol production. If you take 100 bushels of corn to the ethanol plant you get back 97 bushels of cattle / animal feed back. The only product the ethanol plant uses is the sugar in the corn. You don't use or lose 100 bushels of corn, you only use 3.

Not quite. You will get 2.8-3 gallons and 15-20 lbs of DDGS per 56 lb bushel of input corn.

www.iowacorn.org/en/corn_use_education/faq/

The DDGS also has lower energy value per lb, can very commonly have heat damaged proteins, and has concentrated mold toxins.

Eggman

 

[James_Dean]

Makes sense, but what is so different about a corn ethanol plant and a switch grass ethanol plant? Aren't they both pretty much just a distillery? I'm sure there are differences but I would bet that the conversion would be pretty simple.

If there were a switch grass ethanol plant down the road and they payed you the same as the corn, would you grow it then? Does switch grass require special harvesting machinery, or planting techniques that are difficult? Special fertilizer? I have no idea.

Most Americans are sympathetic towards farmers and that's why it's easy to keep the subsidies coming. Most Americans believe that energy independence is a good thing and so ethanol mandates continue. Most Americans believe that growing food to use as a fuel is a bad thing. There is a disconnect.

I suspect that the reason we ended up here had a lot to do with the path of least resistance and the big ag businesses and their money. I'm guessing that there are big companies like Monsanto that sell corn seeds and they also sell specialized fertilizer for corn. Then there are the companies that make specialized equipment to harvest the corn. In the interest of selling the stuff they have and spent so much R&D on, they likely told farmers that switch grass was problematic and that they had no solutions. The ethanol plant was built out for the crop we knew and not the one we didn't. We expanded and maintain status quo because that was easiest and most profitable. Any of this sound right, or am I full of it. (Likely)

The problem I have with it, isn't the subsidies, or the mandates. It's that the government is forcing the situation, but is accepting and going along with the wrong solution to the mandate. It seems to me that the government could just as easily mandate that ethanol be made from switch grass. I suspect that the reason this is not the case is, that the corporations in this country are stronger than the government, so we have to live with stupidity.

Try looking up the RFS. There IS a mandate for cellulosic ethanol, however the economics aren't there yet. IOW, you will see the big guys develop additional infrastructure at existing plants. We will have more ethanol at a higher price mandated to the consumer.

http://poet.com/cellulosic

 

[Matthew]

My little "full service" grocery store won't stock brisket as they would sell so few, never go thru a case of it. He said they would have to charge too much.

Very few people want to cook 14 pounds of the worst cut of beef, as most would make something in edible. It is a "wholesale" cut.

Brisket for sub-$3.99 seems about right... If you are going to cook that big of a piece of meat, you likely shop at SAMs Club already....

It's all about knowing your customers. This is a "just opened" store, near plenty of neighborhoods where the guys like to think they know how to BBQ but don't do any grocery shopping. So the wives do the shopping, think "My husband said he wants to cook a brisket. Hey, here's one. Wow, that's expensive, but everything is expensive these days." I've been stopped in the aisle of that store by a lady asking me if the pork butt she was looking at was what she was supposed to buy for pulled pork.

Around here whole brisket isn't a wholesale cut, it's a BBQ cut. My meat guys usually let me crack open cases in the back so I can grab the briskets I want. A little sweet talk can knock some off the price, too.

I really don't know how well flats sell. I see them, but never see anyone buy them. Of course, you could have it ground and mixed with ground chuck for some really good burgers.

 

[Jimmy cooper]

There are several things city folks don't understand about corn and ethanol production. If you take 100 bushels of corn to the ethanol plant you get back 97 bushels of cattle / animal feed back. The only product the ethanol plant uses is the sugar in the corn. You don't use or lose 100 bushels of corn, you only use 3.

Let me repeat.....turning corn into fuel for automobiles is absurd. One must consider the gas- diesel used in the production and harvesting , the tremendous amount of water consumed and the outrageous subsidy provided by the taxpayer. " city slickers" get it loud and clear. It's a stupid way to go. It's totally political. A big kiss to farmers. Brazil's autos use 80 percent ethanol in running their vehicles. Number one, they don't use a 400 hp pickup to go to the grocery store, much smaller cc engines and they grow sugar cane not corn for their fuel. It's much more productive. If it were not for politics this costly nightmare would never have been born.

 

[Henning]

Let me repeat.....turning corn into fuel for automobiles is absurd. One must consider the gas- diesel used in the production and harvesting , the tremendous amount of water consumed and the outrageous subsidy provided by the taxpayer. " city slickers" get it loud and clear. It's a stupid way to go. It's totally political. A big kiss to farmers. Brazil's autos use 80 percent ethanol in running their vehicles. Number one, they don't use a 400 hp pickup to go to the grocery store, much smaller cc engines and they grow sugar cane not corn for their fuel. It's much more productive. If it were not for politics this costly nightmare would never have been born.

It is not totally political, it is totally chemical. The alcohol is there as an oxidant to reduce certain types of emissions. We used to use MT** (I forget, think it was MTSB?) but it's highly toxic and they contaminated an entire aquifer in California with it and several more water tables around the country which not only got it banned from use in most, if not all, the US, but also was what caused all the removals/replacement of all the underground fuel tanks.

 

[Norman]

That additive would be MTBE which is still used world wide.

On the ethanol, think of all the cattle in the feed lot that are being deprived of their daily high. Ever driven by one and seen the glassy look in the eyes of the steers when they're fed silage that has had a chance to ferment? If you haven't, you're a city kid for sure.

 

[Swampfox201]

Makes sense, but what is so different about a corn ethanol plant and a switch grass ethanol plant? Aren't they both pretty much just a distillery? I'm sure there are differences but I would bet that the conversion would be pretty simple.

If there were a switch grass ethanol plant down the road and they payed you the same as the corn, would you grow it then? Does switch grass require special harvesting machinery, or planting techniques that are difficult? Special fertilizer? I have no idea.

I'm not sure about the difference between a corn and switch grass ethanol plant other than the logistics of it all. You can't just pull up to with your load of switch grass open the trap on the bottom of your trailer and have the grass "run out". Grain has a fluid nature to it that allows it to be poured almost like a liquid from a truck or bin. Switchgrass (hay) would behave totally different and would require a total rework of the plant to handle. Therefore an ethanol plant cannot be a grain AND switch grass plant.

I know they are working on switch grass as a substitute for grain but from what I understand it's not economically feasible yet. Why? I don't know. If it was would/could I raise switch grass? Sure I have a hay baler and it could be done. Would it take less inputs to raise? I don't know. Maybe.

IMPORTANT POINT: Where would I raise my switch grass? Answer: on the ground I used to raise my corn.

The one thing I'm not interested in and I think would be a disaster is using corn stover for ethanol. On the surface it looks great..... we are raising corn anyway so lets use the "trash" that's left over after harvest to make fuel. What people don't understand is when you remove all that trash you're removing nutrients that must be replaced with a commercial type of fertilizer and on our sandy soils if we removed everything and left the soil bare erosion factors (especially wind) would cause another dust bowl.

 

[Geico266]

Let me repeat.....turning corn into fuel for automobiles is absurd. One must consider the gas- diesel used in the production and harvesting , the tremendous amount of water consumed and the outrageous subsidy provided by the taxpayer. " city slickers" get it loud and clear. It's a stupid way to go. It's totally political. A big kiss to farmers. Brazil's autos use 80 percent ethanol in running their vehicles. Number one, they don't use a 400 hp pickup to go to the grocery store, much smaller cc engines and they grow sugar cane not corn for their fuel. It's much more productive. If it were not for politics this costly nightmare would never have been born.

WOW just wow.

Where where you when corn was $1.75 a bushel? Farmers didn't make anything. Now that they have competitive markets for their products and prices are reasonable you start bitching. Have a good dinner tonight.

This is not the SZ so I can't comment further, other than to say your brain washing has been complete.

 

[James_Dean]

WOW just wow.

Where where you when corn was $1.75 a bushel? Farmers didn't make anything. Now that they have competitive markets for their products and prices are reasonable you start bitching. Have a good dinner tonight.

This is not the SZ so I can't comment further, other than to say your brain washing has been complete.

It would help if you had your facts correct. Both of you are wrong.

 

[N801BH]

Just remember.... the progressive claim that there is no inflation at all in obama's economy.

Ha......

I shop for groceries once every 2 months.. I just went this week,, Last time was mid July...

1qt half and half was 1.35 ----- Now 2.55
lb of ground beef was 2.99 ----- Now 4.50
Ball park beef hot dogs were 3.99-- Now 6.00
small blocks of mild chedder were 2 for 5--- Now 5 bucks each..

Looks like dairy is leading the pack and beef / all meat is a close second in rising costs..

Virtually everything is more , except for Tide laundry soap...

Food is out of sight in prices... I REALY hate to see what it is in 2 more months..

 

[Swampfox201]

Not sure if it's been mentioned yet but the title of this thread should read "wow. Somebody needs to RAISE more cows".

The market is telling cattle producers to do so as the profit margins are high. Everybody just has to remember it takes over a year to raise a calf to market so lower prices won't happen overnight but barring weather problems we will produce more and prices will go down. It's happening in the corn market now and will happen eventually with cattle also.

 

[nddons]

Forgot to mention the tremendous subsidies given by you the taxpayer for this idiotic program. It's over 50 cents per gallon. This coupled with the outlandish money given to the farmers makes you food much more expensive. It need not be that way. Vote. The other super ripoff is gasoline. There is a glut of oil, lots of it. Gas Is way way overpriced. The lemmings just say nothing. Don't forget the head of exxons retirement bonus he received a few years back, not his salary, just the retirement bonus, 370 million dollars. Then of course we give exxon bad the other oil company's tremendous tax breaks. It's our own fault. Vote.

What exactly are those tremendous tax breaks for the oil companies, Jimmy? Please be specific.

 

[Turningfinal]

I'm always surprised by people who talk about buying a quarter or more of a beef. They must have large families! A quarter beef would last me the rest of my life.

But I usually don't cook or eat beef at home. Only occasionally in restaurants...

My girlfriend and I are the only two in the household. Takes us just over a year to go through the quarter (120lbs this year) eating red meat once or twice per week. Save the roasts for the winter and ground beef in the summers. The steaks for when we feel like it

 

[ron22]

I'm always surprised by people who talk about buying a quarter or more of a beef. They must have large families! A quarter beef would last me the rest of my life.



But I usually don't cook or eat beef at home. Only occasionally in restaurants...

This was the first time my wife and I bought a quarter.
We found we just ate steak more then normal since we had them.
Ground beef was not a problem because we are feeding grand kids all the time.
Now we need to start making some roasts.
We will be doing it again maybe half this time.

 

[Jimmy cooper]

What exactly are those tremendous tax breaks for the oil companies, Jimmy? Please be specific.

You aren't aware of these? Hard to believe, considering the multitude of articles concerning these breaks reported over the past 20 years. In addition to subsidies they don't need, several major company's pay little or no taxes. Instead of snarky reply, take that time to look it up. Easy to research.