Posted on 10/19/2021 8:09:02 PM PDT by Beave Meister
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Like other ranchers across the country, Rusty Kemp for years grumbled about rock-bottom prices paid for the cattle he raised in central Nebraska, even as the cost of beef at grocery stores kept climbing.
He and his neighbors blamed it on consolidation in the beef industry stretching back to the 1970s that resulted in four companies slaughtering over 80% of the nation’s cattle, giving the processors more power to set prices while ranchers struggled to make a living. Federal data show that for every dollar spent on food, the share that went to ranchers and farmers dropped from 35 cents in the 1970s to 14 cents recently.
It led Kemp to launch an audacious plan: Raise more than $300 million from ranchers to build a plant themselves, putting their future in their own hands.
“We’ve been complaining about it for 30 years,” Kemp said. “It’s probably time somebody does something about it.”
(Excerpt) Read more at cbs2iowa.com ...
“Hope the government doesn’t over regulate him to death so the Big 4 can take over his business...”
You forgot the /s tag.
Don’t burn your herd. Sell directly to your community. I’ll learn to skin and quarter and smoke and dry my own meet.
It is hard work. Not many retire from that job.
I quit before I became totally crippled. Wrist and shoulders snapping. Siatic nerve problems, still today, plus back problems.
Top wage during that time was $5,25 per hour.
Drive through states like Iowa or Nebraska and when you see more Spanish language signs than English, you can be assured there’s a meat packing plant there.
Four companies slaughter 85% of cattle in the US: Tyson, Cargill, JBS SA, and National Beef Packing Co. The latter two are Brazillian-owned. These four went from 25% in 1977 to 71% in 1992. Once you own the market you can do anything you want.
I wish them luck. Their major concern is government overregulation and union protection for the larger plants. It is a tough business, hard work but very satisfying in providing the community with good and affordable food.
Gee, someone finally figured this out? Good for Them. Now if they will just do it, instead of talking about it. And raising $300 million to do it???
How about raising $300,000 to rent a building with a big freezer, buy some knives, saws and grinders, hire a few people, and go for local trade rather than doing something regional - national. and do it a few hundred times in different localities? I’d be glad to invest a few thousand bucks into a local co-op among my rancher neighbors, and get paid back in product over a few years.
Nice meat processing plant you got there. It would be too bad if the government regulated it out of business and forced you to sell it to the Big 4.
Or even smaller. My neighbor raises his own chickens, hogs, and cattle and has a local butcher process them.
America’s highly-centralized, bloated-government, regulatory-enforced, crony-capitalist supply chains are breaking.
Let’s hope a thousand ranchers start a thousand new processing plants to all serve their local areas.
I've never done it, but I've been told getting USDA approval and permitting for such a venture is a nightmare. Why do you think a few big companies in bed with Fed.gov control it all?
If you are in a big ranching state with decent population, (Texas, California, Arizona) could you get around the USDA requirement by selling in-state only?
Yeah, good point.
Maybe it is past time to say “Screw the USDA” and go ‘underground’.
Maybe set up a ‘private club’, get a few ‘friends’ together, buy the steer, and hire a contract butcher to take it apart for your group.
There's quite a few videos on the internet showing rural folks doing exactly that.
They should start more local. At a federally inspected plant, a USDA inspector has to be on hand at all times at a cost of $80/hr. ($166,000/yr)
27 states have state inspections that are equivalent to fed but you don’t have to have an inspector there full time. Savings from that and state fees are lower in general. There’s a family farm near me that’s state inspected. That’s how affordable it is. The meat can only be sold within the state. That’s why walmart, kroger etc will only ever use USDA inspected meat.
My nearest grocery store has stores in MO, KS, and two in TN. All three have FSIS meat inspection programs that are fed equivalent and all three have beef cattle farmers. The next nearest only has stores in MO. Other than that, there’s only walmart. Not ironically, Arkansas does not have State meat inspection. Oddly, Delaware does.
With 27 states,(https://www.fsis.usda.gov/inspection/apply-grant-inspection/state-inspection-programs/states-and-without-inspection-programs) they could take a huge bite out of the big four. Save up capital and then go national if they want.
The way they’re going about it, I’m afraid it will turn out like Tucker, a Man and his Dreams.
Hard to compete with BIG. Big AG, Big Three, Big Pharma. They own too many in fedgov and can get regulations tweaked to crush the smaller competition.
Easier to set up single state or regional distribution. Class C drivers are easier to find as are drivers who like to go home every night. Single piece class C trucks are cheaper and simpler too.
I just learned about the Butcher's Steak aka Hanger Steak. I found a family farm that's state inspected and sells individual cuts at comparable prices to the grocery store and the price list has Hanger Steak which I wasn't familiar with so I looked it up.
Some day I'll get another freezer and find someone to go in with us on a steer. If it was winter and if I got a meat band saw, we could process it ourselves. I've got a wrecker to hoist the carcass up and there are loads of youtube videos showing the butchery. With the right temps, the right shed and a window AC with a special controller, we could even age it at 35 degrees for a couple of weeks. For now, we could use the above farmer/processor.
It's time for everyone to go local and cut out BIG.
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