wearmanyhats

To the average city dweller, the plight of the beef farmer is nothing worth even thinking about. It should be. Unless you are a vegetarian, the meat farmer’s life affects you more closely than you realize.  The commodity meat market fluctuates dramatically, sometimes making these farmers a good living, other times they have to wait until prices go back up.

The beef farmer, having enjoyed wonderful prices on his/her cattle for a number of years, has seen a drop in the price of cattle in the past seven or so months.  This deflationary period that caught producers by surprise, but when you can’t pay for your house payment, or car, when you’ve been laid off, you  don’t buy as many steaks.

Beef prices fell.

Some farmers have been holding their herds, hoping the price of beef will climb so they can sell off their herds and at least come out ahead.  By the time you buy the youngstock, then the feed to get them through the winter, and take care of any vet shots needed to keep them healthy, the bill for the initial investment is quite noticeable. Only a sizable profit can make the whole endeavor worthwhile.

Farmers are used to the gamble of their calling.  Sometimes you can buy grain and a good storm will wipe it out.  Other times it’s drought.  Sometimes you can invest in pigs, and the price of pork will drop through the floor.  It’s a risky business and a miracle that anyone even works the land at all!  

For now, the beef farmer waits and hopes for good times to return to the country.  S/he wonders if maybe pigs would bring the farm a better return next years.  Perhaps a specialty meat such as Hereford will bring a better price.  The farmer waits while we enjoy the prices of beef at the store.  Our good fortune is the farmer’s living slowly draining away.

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