Farmerjan's journal - Weather

B&B Happy goats

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Good to read that your dad is improving some and that you feel the situation is better.....
Now maybe this medical issue will make him realize he is now not ....."the ruler of his kingdom"... and is dependent on others for everything. ...that sure will humble a man when he has to have help wiping his own butt...I have seen men who thought they were giants , come down to earth and be humble men when they have become disabled. ....
Wishing you a wonderful pain free week .....:hugs:love:hugs
 

farmerjan

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Thanks to all. @B&B Happy goats , yeah, I imagine he has had to come down off his high horse, but he will never accept any help from me. Another guy, my brothers, yeah....

I did the farm today in Covington. Went from there to the TSC as they had advertised that they had the particular "weather resistant panel" to put on the side of the pen (dog pen actually) that I use for the meat chickens. I have used a tarp, to protect from the rain and such, but it is a pain and they don't last real good. So I went there, they of course only had 1, but it was advertised at 23.99, on line which is 1.00 less than my local store (except that I have to order it because it isn't in store).. so I got there and it says 21.99 on the shelf. Okay... better.... so I see a weatherproof, canopy top for the pen, 10x10, although mine is at present 5x10 but you can add panels. I had just made the investment at the local TSC this past week, knowing that I am going to add panels to make it a 2 section pen for meat birds, and be able to use it for the purebreds or whatever.... The canopy, with all pipes fittings top etc is 149.99. ouch, but it will do a much better job of keeping it drier than the tarps and 2x6's etc.

SOOOOO, next to the 1 and only weatherproof panel, is a box, marked clearance... 10x10 canopy top, exactly like I had just gotten. 85.00...... So I asked the store manager, I guess he was, about more of the weatherproof panels; and when I saw this I asked him what the deal was. He said the box had come in all damaged, torn up, and they were not sure IF there were any pieces missing, so they marked it down to get it sold. I asked if we could open the box.... it wasn't fastened shut, just the top on it, and there is the parts list.... so I am checking all the part numbers, all the pieces are marked, all the packages, and for all I could see, everything was there. So I said I would take it. If there is anything missing, it is some bolts/nuts/ in a package... SOOOOO HE// YES... for $65.00 less, I got a canopy that looks to be pretty much complete.
GREAT THING, is I hadn't even opened the box with the one I got here local..... So it will go back.

I got lucky and saved some money on it and will get the other returned in the next couple of days, as soon as it stops raining. That saved money will buy another panel at normal price....but now I am going to be looking harder as these are items that get "discounted" as the fall weather gets here as they make room for fall, hunting, and then Holiday/Christmas stuff.... Never know, might find another bargain.

I feel as lucky as @Baymule ..... she is always scarfing up these deals..... Maybe we can figure out a way to get some of these "free meat birds" shared??????
The 20 I got 10 days ago are down to 18 and one more will go, it has splayed its legs in 2 different directions. One of the other ones just had no "body" and the other I just found dead. It happens. The other 29 big ones are doing good, although a couple seem to be feeling their weight. I sure hope they last until the 3rd Sat in Sept when the poultry swap is. Hope these smaller ones will start gaining and be ready to go as smaller sized ones.... I will probably have one more batch in early Oct (or maybe even the last of Sept) when the houses go out again.... If there are any to go get, they will get fed until late Dec or so and get done before I have the ankle replacement, and won't get any again until I am mobile.

They all looked like drowned rats this eve after the downpour we got around 6 pm. Another reason to get the top on so I don't have such a mushy 1/2 pen when it rains. No sandy soil here.
 

Baymule

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That's a good deal you found! I'll take a deal like that any day! Congrats on finding it and saving money that you can put on more panels. The deals are out there, you just have to scrounge for them. Haha

I think it is a fantastic deal, the way you get all these meat chickens. They are almost finished, you just have to feed them a short while. Meat for the freezer! I wish I knew some poultry farmers around here, I would approach them for leftover chickens. LOL
 

farmerjan

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Just a few things. We are having rain again, spotty showers and downpours, some thunder... then seems like it heads east and @Mini Horses gets it. Some of it has really helped some farmers north of me that were very dry. But it has been spotty. We got .2 on Wed eve, then on Thursday afternoon and then Friday got another .85 total.... It rained again last night a bit, with more possible for the next couple of days....

More weeds, than I can ever remember seeing in the hayfields. Most will not make decent square bales for sale this year, if it ever dries up long enough to make it. We are getting into what we call the hurricane season....we usually get a fair amount of rain in the fall when the hurricane season gets going even if we don't get any real hurricane weather.
Our sorghum/sudan grass is growing leaps and bounds and will be ready to cut again in about 2-3 weeks I guess. Then plan on putting in orchard grass at the one 10 acre field, it has been 2 years in sorghum, cover crops, cleanup and ready to go back to a hay crop. The other field will go into a cover crop again, then back in sorghum/sudan grass next year.
The corn is getting close to ready to chop and we don't want it to get too dried out. It seems to mature awfully fast. That will go right back into wheat for a fall cover crop to help with the weed suppression. We will put up a bag for silage and the rest will be sold to the farmer we are working partners with on it.

Going to wean off the calves this weekend too, from the group we moved a couple weeks ago. They were going to get sold then the prices fell with the manipulation after the fire at the kill plant at Tyson, in Ks.... and the roller coaster ride that the beef cattle have gone on. The worst is that they SCREWED the farmer and are SCREWING the consumer. Dropped the price of fat cattle to 1.00 from 1.12 in less than 3 days, UPPED the price of boxed beef over 30.00..... from 1.70's to over 2.10... claimed a shortage, and the total kill numbers were only down a couple of thousand for the whole week over normal numbers.... not the 6,000 head per day that the plant handles.
I realize that this is of no real concern to many of the "small farmer/homesteaders" on here..... except to maybe make you all realize that the continual loss of competition in the beef industry.... it is going in the direction of the poultry and hog industries... and even with pockets of little individuals that are trying to keep a few heritage breeds here and there, the costs are being manipulated and the markets controlled. Yes there was a fire, but rather than give it a few days to sort out the situation, it was made out to be a HUGE disaster... and yes I even believed it was pretty devastating according to the initial reports; and the traders took advantage and hurt the cattle feeders/producers and the buying public. It is said that they are making over $300 profit per head right now. Off the backs of the farmer doing all the work, and the unsuspecting public buying the beef.

With the age of farmers creeping up, and many older getting out, these huge mega companies are going to start contracting beef/cattle/feeders, just like they do the chickens and hogs. We will become paid employees of these companies because they will not buy, or will pay a pittance, for cattle that are not part of their "contract" .... and they will dictate what cattle, what we feed them, and discount any that do not meet their standards. We will lose more genetic diversity and get more "cookie cutter" animals like these broilers and hogs that are grown in confinement. Not a great future to look forward to.
 

Bruce

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The worst is that they SCREWED the farmer and are SCREWING the consumer. Dropped the price of fat cattle to 1.00 from 1.12 in less than 3 days, UPPED the price of boxed beef over 30.00..... from 1.70's to over 2.10... claimed a shortage, and the total kill numbers were only down a couple of thousand for the whole week over normal numbers.... not the 6,000 head per day that the plant handles.
As ridiculous as the price of gas going up because a hurricane MIGHT affect a few days platforms for a couple of days. Of course there never is a shortage even if the rigs do shut down for 2 days.
 

Mini Horses

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Bruce & FarmerJan -- you are BOTH right! My uncle worked for BP and laughed at the "shortage = prices up" because they had gas everywhere! Tanker train cars full & sitting.

Shameful how all of these things happen. I hate the though of the cattle going the way of the hogs & chickens but, I see it happening. It will take a while, not more than a few years once they implement. It's a little push & shove right now with the older farmers shutting down, few young ones to fight. Soon, all downhill.

The traditional "family farm" has dwindled to almost nothing, there are a few "specialty" small farms still struggling along but, big brother is determined! Here, there are areas with big houses on 5-8 acres, a couple horses -- maybe chickens and a couple sheep or goats on occasion. I don't even see a great amount of gardening anymore. It's like an 8X10 once in a while and then a couple who just really LIKE to garden, maybe a 30X50 there. :D I hate to see the changes but, it's life!

And yes -- the storms came here and won't leave! Just straggling along.
 

Senile_Texas_Aggie

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Miss @farmerjan,

I am curious about what you think should be done about the cattle business. On @CntryBoy777's journal, you commented on socialism ( https://www.backyardherds.com/threa...a-acres-adventures.34497/page-556#post-621295 ), which was fine. Yet in your comment above, where free market capitalism is at work, it seems like you think it is wrong what is happening. PLEASE understand I am not trying to start an argument with you, as you are among my favorite folks here on the forum. I am just trying to understand your thoughts. And if it is OK with Miss @farmerjan, anyone else is free to comment as well. (If it is not OK with her, we can take this discussion to my journal.)

Could cattle ranchers go directly to the commodities markets and sell a futures contract for cows the same way that others can buy and sell those contracts? If so, perhaps the cattle ranchers could bypass some of the middlemen.

Comments?

Senile Texas Aggie
 

farmerjan

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Most farmers do some trading with the futures markets, and lock in prices for their cattle in contracts.

There is no way to bypass the middleman when there are no plants to have the animals slaughtered at except those that are owned by the "big 4" companies unless you are a niche farmer. And believe me, those that do try to do the niche markets, get such a premium price, that the average person cannot afford to buy the product.

The thing is, it is not free market capitalism anymore with the different companies that have sold out to so many foreign investors, being given favored status and a few have acquired companies in hostile takeovers. The 4 that are basically controlling it are monopolies. It was in the rules of the "packers" that they could not have a monopoly. They are not supposed to be able to control it from start to finish, and there are 2 organizations that are bringing lawsuits against the meat packers... The National Farmers Union, and R-Calf. R-Calf is really on our side. It is sort of like when they forced "ma bell" to break up because of the monopoly of being the "only phone provider" in the country. There are only 4 major companies in the US now that are responsible for nearly all the beef. They can pay a little bit lower price for the cattle, they guarantee to take the animals, then still get the "higher prices for the product". Then when a company cannot compete with them because of "economy of scale" which has been manipulated, the smaller company goes out. There is an article in "Drovers" on JBS; the way they have paid off politicians and stuff to take over the beef industry in Argentina, and their role in the US beef markets. There is also an article on Valley Oaks processors.... a small processor that tried to expand to meet the market demands, and the way the town, politicians and all refused to let them expand....with all their t's crossed, i's dotted, and trying to do it right... but because some decided that it MIGHT create a problem, even when all models showed it would not, they finally could not afford to keep fighting. Because so many of the smaller slaughter houses have gone out/been bought out because they cannot compete with the larger companies that basically control the flow of cattle... and then you deal with the "tree hugger types" that have put some good small companies out of business because of the lawsuits and such they bring against these smaller companies. It is not free market capitalism when the smaller companies are fighting an uphill battle anymore with the regulations that are now imposed on them that make it impossible to compete.

I do not do a very good job of explaining it. These takeovers have been slow and quiet in most cases. But now that these 4 companies have taken over about 80-85% of the beef, they call all the shots. The beef pricing has to do with "cash market prices" but as the smaller companies get bought out by big companies, and more cattle are marketed on contract, the cash price that this is based on actually shrinks and gets smaller because fewer cattle are sold on the cash market. Most of this is based on small feeding operations of 1,000 head or so. It creates competition in buyers, and a more fair price is paid.

Let me see if I can find the article on the Valley Oaks and what happened to them. There are numerous articles on JBS and the shady underhanded deals they have done, and bragged about how they have manipulated different markets, and the gov't payoffs to basically be able to control things.

Part of the problem is the smaller companies often sell out because they get caught up in a legal war they cannot afford to continue to fight. The bigger companies also have a stranglehold in the lobbyists and they can find ways to tie up a small company until the legal fees bury them even if they are right. Look at it this way.... you can only sell meat if you have your animal processed by a USDA approved plant. But, any of the state approved slaughterhouses can legally kill and process your animal for your own consumption. Why, if the plant is an approved slaughter facility, meets all the regulations for cleanliness, etc and so on, can you not take that animal and sell it to your neighbor or at a farmers market????? It costs an average farmer $1.00 per lb more just to have it done at a USDA approved slaughter house. We are paying for the USDA person to be there, "inspect the animal" and file a pile of paperwork that has no value to anyone except to say that they were there. The USDA REQUIRES a separate office for the USDA inspector, and a list of other things I cannot remember offhand. Most state approved slaughter plants have said it costs too much to comply with it, when they are basically doing nothing different than the state liscensed facility does. I cannot legally sell the chickens I have someone else kill, at an INSPECTED facility.... but I can kill them myself, up to 3,000 a year in Va., meet certain requirements, and then legally sell them????

I know I am not doing a very good job of conveying the inequities.... we do not have a free market, capitalism, in the beef markets anymore; it has become a monopoly and it has been allowed to happen by a gov't that does not follow the laws that were set up to prevent this. I think it was the Packers and Stockyards act or law or something. I would have to look it up but it was set up to prevent a monopoly so that they could not "set the price" and farmers would have to take it or leave it. That happened to hogs. I remember when the prices paid for live hogs dropped to $.08 a lb..... so the "cash" price was so low, the companies could base what they were paying on the "open market" on this, and 99% of the smaller hog farmers went out because you cannot sell 2250 lb finished hogs for .08 a lb. The contract hog farmers were guaranteed a certain price, all the small time places went out, and that is how the hog industry went to strictly "corporate farms".

I am tired, have to get up @ 4:45 so HAVE to go to bed so I can get at least 4 hours. I will try to get back to this tomorrow, but I also have to be up @ 3:30 on Tuesday for work so it might be a couple of days before I can find the time to answer back.

I am fine with this being posted on my thread.
 

Baymule

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The USDA processor near us pays $80 PER HOUR for the inspector to "inspect". :th There is no upcharge for USDA versus custom processing. I can presell the live animal, take it to slaughter, pick up and deliver the meat as a courtesy to the customer. To sell meat by the pound or package, it must be USDA inspected.
 

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