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So what makes us so good...

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    So what makes us so good...

    Commentary from friends, the debate on
    here and the latest news from Korea has
    got me thinking.
    What is it that makes Cdn Beef so good,
    or are we delusional.
    We always brag about our Barley fed AB
    beef, but it seems to me there is a very
    small competitive advantage to brag
    about.
    We have very few bulls getting sold that
    are ultrasounded, we have very little
    feedback to the farm from beyond the
    farm gate, with the exception of a few
    programs like Cristoph's there is almost
    no ownership to retail.
    I know the arguments:
    Genetics - we have the best genetics -
    we have almost no one who measures
    carcass merit and any really good
    genetics are accessible in a straw
    anywhere in the world. Ask the
    Brazilian who AI's 100000 cows. They
    can have our genetics in 9 months.
    Health - maybe something here - no FMD,
    but OZ, NZ, etc. are in the same
    playground
    Barley finished - It is not rocket
    science to grow barley and feed it to a
    cow. When I was in Oz I saw a lot of
    feedlots being constructed to add value
    to barley.
    Don't get me wrong, I think Canadian
    beef is good, but I am not sure how we
    claim to be the best. I know what we
    are doing at our place, but I feel we
    are the exception rather than the rule.
    If we are gun ho about stepping out of
    the US shadow and being the best, then
    what do we need to do to ensure we are
    and prove it?

    #2
    Good post Sean. I'm inclined to think we are a bit
    delusional - but don't feel bad - most beef producing
    countries think the same. The Scots have always thought
    their beef the best - after all the Angus and the Beef
    Shorthorn were their invention. The Argentinians think
    their beef can't be beaten etc etc.

    I got this recently from Beef Breeds Council but I believe
    it's a creation of Canada Beef.

    "The following attributes are part of the Canadian Beef
    Advantage:

    1. high-quality beef

    2. high-yielding beef carcasses

    3. superior cattle breeds and beef genetics

    4. a clean and environmentally-friendly production
    system

    5. effective cattle identification system that enables
    traceability and source/age verification

    6. HACCP-based food safety systems second to none at
    the packer level and voluntary on-farm HACCP-based
    food safety systems

    7. Canadians as people with integrity

    8. the commitment of Canadians to leadership and
    innovation"

    I would comment as follows
    1 - hollow claim - compared to what?
    2 - maybe, but again compared to what/whose?
    3 - absolute BS - superior breeds like what the
    Canadienne? everybody else has all the other breeds too
    I think.
    4 - Out on the foothill ranches maybe, not so much the
    feedlots in the oldman and bow river basins
    5 - What a joke - a totally bogus claim
    6 - don't know enough to comment
    7 - a believable concept
    8 - any more than other countries or their citizens?

    This is the kind of hollow "industry" BS that backs the
    claims of the "best in the world". Certainly there are
    good things about Canadian beef, our production
    systems and our producers but there are in other
    countries too.
    I've said it on here before the two best steaks I've ever
    had (excluding my own which I prefer but can't judge
    objectively) came from very different sources. One was
    an outstanding Angus steak BBQ'd by the hand of the
    then Canadian Angus President. The other was in South
    Africa, grilled on the braai and it was cow beef imported
    from Botswana. I honestly couldn't tell which was the
    best - they were both very, very good - and remarkably
    similar. After that experience I'm rather cautious of
    saying who has the "best beef in the world".

    Comment


      #3
      I've spent plenty of time thinking and talking about this as well. Being a born and bred beef eating enthusiast I have been on a life long taste test and sampled local beef in a dozen different countries over the years. All that can be said is there is very good beef to be had all around the world and very bad beef to be had all around the world. We might have an edge on a few countries with consistency, maybe. The big thing for me is that we must give the customer what they want as opposed to telling them what is good for them.

      Comment


        #4
        Per you hit the bull in the ass with the scoop shovel. Before I decided it was time to settle down I travelled through out many countries and you are dead on at the variance of quality and taste of beef. Canadian beef is praised by Canadians because it is what we were raised on and how it was prepared. For any fool to try and convince another country's beef producer that yours is far superior is dreaming. Let's try and resolve a fair price that can be sold to even our middle range income families that cann't even afford a feed of our so called best beef in the world. There is a never ending customer right here in Canada. The middle men and ever one else who adds on to price has created a non accessible market to most. The days of raising a couple butcher steers , sheep, hogs, chickens , et. and running them to the local butcher for resale are dead and gone.

        Comment


          #5
          "The days of raising a couple butcher steers , sheep, hogs, chickens , et. and running them to the local butcher for resale are dead and gone. "

          Actually, that may not be exactly true. In fact now it's a growing trend. There's a little thing called the local food movement that's quietly taking hold. You don't hear about it in the mass media, but it is happening, and it's all under the radar. There are more and more people all the time who are losing faith in the mass produced food available in the stores, and they are looking for alternative sources.

          I spend time selling at the farmer's market in the summer, and we do have a loyal and growing customer base. I sell veggies, but we have others who do make a living selling beef, lamb and pork. Chickens can't be sold at the farmer's market, but can be sold farm direct. Those are always spoken for before they're processed. I know a few people who direct market their lambs, and most have their lamb crop spoken for before they're even born. They have waiting lists.

          Is there money in it? I watched my farmer's market neighbour getting berated by one of the largest commercial hog operators in the province one Saturday morning. My friend with the hogs raised by his five sows farrowing once a year on pasture was making money, while the commercial guy was complaining about how he was losing ten thousand dollars a month with his huge barns. The big guy was complaining about the fact that my friend had "hormone free" on his sign, assuming he was advertising hormone free pork. (Actually it was his beef that he was advertising.) This same friend sells all his beef direct to consumers as well.

          Getting back to the topic ...yes, his beef is a superior Canadian product. The hype about Canadian beef does apply to his operation. How it applies to something coming out of a ten thousand head feedlot is a whole other question.

          Comment


            #6
            Exactly it is far under the radar hardly anyone knows about it. This area could be expanded 1000% , advertised whatever, the old system my grandfather use to talk about was ever small town had a local butcher shop that had lockers,retailed to customers product that farmers brought in.Two people involved farmer-buthcher. There were no Cargills reaping all the profit. I was amazed how government money flowed to the Cargil plant at High River. Land donated , grants you name it. I am surprized Cargil didn't convince the prov. government to supply meat cutters and put them on the government payroller. Wait they did,

            Comment


              #7
              We do have opportunity to expand that way of raising and marketing beef kato.

              My wonderful friend Christoph is proving that there is a market beyond our own little value chain marketing of old fashioned naturally raised beef in Calgary. And we will be the next rung up the ladder when we open the plant at Balzac.

              I don't know if good is the word to describe the "difference" but choice certainly is. People want a choice. One of the best books I have read about the cattle and beef industry is a book called "Steak" by a Canadian boy named Mark Schatzker. Our meat is not better than the rest of the world, but we do have the opportunity to make it different.

              I personally feel that our conventional system of raising cattle to slaughter and even some of our slaughter procedures make our conventional Canadian Beef some of the worst in the world. Can I spew that around to market my own beef... Hell know, but it is my opinion.

              We can all run down the way that beef is raised and slaughtered in other countries while we frankenstein our beef in the conventional North American way.

              I mentioned this on another thread and will say it once more here.

              In our conventional system the cow calf guy raises a steer from breeding stock that a purebred guy has developed to create a high quality carcass and an optimum size.

              By high quality and optimum --- again my personal opinion --- I refer to a white fat well marbled rib eye that does not fill the whole consumers plate when cut at about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches thick.

              This steer is now sent off to the second part of our dysfunctional value chain after the feeder gets it for as little as he can in our free enterprise, and also supply demand driven system. Which has no intent whatsoever to trickle anything down by the way.

              This naturally genetic engineered steer is now exposed to hormones and beta agonists that modify his body in a way that takes everything the purebred guy worked for and throws it out the door. The feed and feeding system cause a need to load the steer up with antibiotics which are proven LOL to never cause any residual effects on the humans that eat him... I certainly hope everyone read the sarcasm in that sentence.

              The extreme levels of barley and in the American sense GMO corn that this steer eats causes his entire biological system to be altered in a way that the God given attributes like CLA are taken away from the steer.

              But we got a whole bunch of red meat protein and like everyone in our industry wants to keep telling me... We get paid by the pound.... Whatever. More sarcasm.........

              Now this frankensteer is off to the slaughterhouse to be sprayed down with chemicals or maybe irradiated to make up for some of the collateral damage caused in the rearing time of his life by feed and chemical manipulation.

              Are we better Sean --- I personally feel we could be if we followed Grandpa and forage and Kato and Christoph and grassfarmer before he gave up....LOL

              Do we have the best system in the world to create frankenstein red meat protein and wonderful????dog food --- hell ya... come on everyone -- say it with me --- HELL YA.

              Do we have the capability to responsibly create a wholesome nutritious product with ultimate respect for the consumer and market in a way that the producer can survive and thrive....YES WE DO. With conscious value chain from that cow calf guys steer all the way to the wholesaler or the retail counter.

              Comment


                #8
                This is why my friend has a waiting list for his lamb and beef. Oh, and the Berkshire pork! OMG! It's also why I have had more than one "tomato fight" break out at my farmer's market table. LOL Really... I'm not kidding. You think you see a difference in commodity beef? Try a tomato in January from the grocery store. eeewwww......

                As time goes by, quality will be the holy grail of buying food, and if we're smart, we'll be there to provide that good food.

                Comment


                  #9
                  I never gave it up Randy, I'm still walking the talk
                  selling as much beef as I want to then turning away
                  customers. As forage says there is unbelievable
                  room for expansion in direct marketing of beef in
                  the domestic market. I'm sure there is more demand
                  than there are people prepared to break away from
                  conventional "marketing" to supply it.
                  I think thats really what it comes down to at the end
                  of the day - there are producers who will always sell
                  into the commodity system no matter the price, that
                  is what they know. Then there are producers who
                  want to go out and sell beef direct to the consumer,
                  put the work in to earn the extra dollars. I think
                  there is a third group too - the ones who would like
                  someone else to do the work, "save the industry" by
                  building a slaughter plant and selling beef around
                  the world. Problem with that group in my opinion is
                  most of them have unrealistic expectations. They
                  seem to want a $200/head premium for putting in
                  $5 of effort and preferably no capital investment or
                  risk on their part.

                  I have a friend in Ottawa who started with nothing -
                  no farm, no money, no cattle but a knowledge of
                  grass and grazing. He buys feeder heifers in the
                  spring fattens them on grass, gets them butchered
                  then divides the beef up into 10lb packs and sells
                  them in the city. He makes $500 an animal for his
                  efforts after paying expenses. He doesn't own land
                  he rents 65 acres, no buildings, no cow herd, no
                  machinery - he doesn't own a vehicle. He can hire
                  anything he needs. Last year he did 30 head and
                  this year he will do 40 which is as much as the land
                  base will support and his time will allow. 40 head
                  will be a $20,000 return from an operation with no
                  capital invested in land, machinery etc.
                  I think this shows the potential - if anybody wants
                  in on the beef retailing business get at it - the
                  opportunity is right there in front of us all. Best part
                  is you don't need to wait on someone building a
                  beef plant or someone securing market access or a
                  sale on another continent. It starves the existing
                  packers of cattle too so there is a feel good factor
                  involved as a bonus.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    "They seem to want a $200/head premium for putting in $5 of effort and preferably no capital investment or
                    risk on their part."

                    Who is this group grassfarmer?

                    Comment


                      #11
                      A lot of the guys who talked about getting involved
                      or investing in a packing plant proposal in recent
                      years. They wanted a higher price for their weaned
                      calves and someone else to do the value adding yet
                      give them the premium. I would say the majority of
                      producers attending any packing plant presentation
                      that I attended.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I think there are a lot of barriers to
                        changing the C/C end of the industry.
                        The first is skill set. If you think
                        through grassfed beef and the
                        specialized skills it takes there are
                        not a lot of individual operations that
                        have all of them:
                        skill in genetic selection
                        grazing skill
                        marketing skill
                        etc.
                        Even in conventional beef production,
                        feeding cattle takes a special skill
                        set, as does the agronomy of barley
                        growing, etc.
                        Another big barrier to change is cash
                        flow. Lots of guys are set up to make
                        their payments with fall weaned calves.
                        That said there is no reason things
                        can't be changed, but we are an industry
                        that is infrastructure heavy and often
                        in the wrong places. This creates a big
                        burden.
                        All of these are just "attitudes" but
                        attitudes rarely change without either
                        encouragement (read $$$) or desperation
                        (read no $$$). Desperation is a lot
                        easier to get action out of.
                        At the start of the thread I mentioned
                        that I know what we are doing at our
                        place, but I don't think the majority of
                        people are even doing things like buying
                        ultrasounded bulls, or participating in
                        VBP, or eco-monitoring. This creates
                        opportunity for specific value chains
                        but makes it hard to claim as an
                        industry that we are leading the quality
                        parade.
                        It's too bad we can't figure out a way
                        to create desperation and prosperity all
                        at the same time...

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I guess I'm what would be called one of these "commodity types", who somehow managed to survive the ups and downs for most of my life. I did it by trying to always turn a profit....keeping costs as low as possible and trying to get as much as possible out of the "commodity market".
                          While I can admire all you guys who value added by getting into the niche markets, it wasn't for me. The extra work and skill set needed wasn't worth it.....for me.
                          Now as I near the end of my cow days I look back on it as being a pretty good life. I think overall I did allright...got the kids raised....got the bills paid.....had a few bucks in my pocket.....never worked myself to death! What more could you ask?

                          Comment


                            #14
                            The direct marketing involves something that not everyone has, and that's the desire to work directly with the public. I know one cattle producer right now who has absolutely no interest in it, and he's outside doing chores as I type this. Which is why farmer's markets are my specialty, not his. I for one, just love working with the public.

                            I can see the day coming when we get older and are looking for less physical work, when we would have less cattle and add value to them, but for now, Hubby is perfectly happy with what he does. Besides the cows, we've gotten quite specialized in backgrounding light calves, and they've been good to us. He is very good at what he does, and so far it has kept us in business through some pretty nasty times.

                            When we get to where the cows is all we want to deal with, then value added will be a more likely option for us. In the meantime, I'll keep on with my own little direct marketing project, and Hubby will happily carry on with what his talents work best for. When the day to add value and maybe direct market beef comes along, the marketing I'm doing now will be a good foundation for it.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              We bought for $790/cult acre... just closed the deal this past week.


                              Cheapest in the area, rest of land that we know sold went for $980 - 1150/acre.

                              This is Muenster, SK.


                              Selling the place in MB for around $860/ cult acre.... and that's in the bush, kinda like farming north of La Ronge in SK.

                              The farmland bubble is alive and well, and will be till a) interest goes up, b) grain prices crash.


                              We mortgaged that quarter... 15 yrs... payment is $500/month. No wonder everyone is buying, buying, buying!

                              Comment

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