Oldtimer,
This is the time for me to make sure that everyone understands where I am coming from in these threads about JBS, Tyson, Teys Bros and all the rest. I am not anti US or Canadian beef. I am not promoting vertical integration. I am not trying to make anyone feel bad or become depressed. I am not promoting corporations, and I am certainly not against every producer out there having an opportunity to start and build his or her own company.
What I am doing is trying to get everyone to understand a little more about the big picture that exists out there today. Then I would hope that most would say, "Am I going to be in this game? If so, what is the best way for me to do it considering the way things are out there today (in terms of free trade agreements, vertical integration in Australia, large banks, holding companies, investment companies et al buying huge tracts of "station land" in Australia, illegal deforestation in Brazil for the purpose of grazing cattle until the land can be improved enough to sell it for a profit to a soybean farmer [even though the rancher does not own the land], and any number of other scenarios that exist today)? Should I do something by myself, or should I join an alliance or other group?
I would hope (based on my understanding of how things are out there today and the intentions of the major players in the beef industry) that every cow-calf producer in the U.S. and Canada would be giving serious consideration to joining a niche market alliance at the very least if he or she does not already belong to one.
I used to be a cow-calf producer. I was a hobby rancher with a small herd of commercial Brangus while I was going to college. I love cow-calf producers. I love farmers. I love everyone who is involved in making food available to all of us. I want cow-calf producers to survive and prosper, and I have done some things that are waiting in the wings in case the time is ever right to help them do that.
It just really concerns me when I see so many producers get hung up on one or two subjects instead of looking at the big picture and putting their time and effort somewhere that has the potential of really helping the individual operator today while the industry hashes out the COOLS of the world.
Example? Okay, here is one. From what I have been able to learn about 1% of cow-calf producers in the U.S. today participate in the IRM-SPA benchmarking program. Why isn't it a lot more than that? I believe that benchmarking is the best management tool available to a cow-calf producer no matter what region or state he or she is in. If you are reading this and you are a cow-calf producer, if it's not too personal, do you participate in IRM-SPA? If so, why do you? If not, why not? I am not directly associated with the IRM-SPA benchmarking program, but I believe in this sort of thing.
U.S. and Canadian producers have an extremely large challenge in front of them in terms of the global beef production industry. Many won't make any changes, and they will be gone. Sad. Some will try and will make it, and that will be great. We need food in this world, and we need producers to produce that food. Unfortunately, many times an individual producer and/or an individual consumer doesn't have much say in what governments do in terms of free trade agreements and things like that, but we still need that food.
Maybe now, Oldtimer, you can explain your "Teddy" quotes to me a little more in terms of how to do those things in today's world, especially in the context of global competition. And maybe some of you will be able to talk a little about IRM-SPA and other programs out there today. That would be great. Let's think about things that can be done and move forward before it is too late.
