I'M Done!!!!

[TimH]

Fats are down to $0.75 or $1.27 on the rail. 6 weight feeders bring less than a buck. Bred cows are bringing about $500,on average.......I'm out!!!!
I paid $1200/head for my cowherd in 2001(a shitload of cows). If I'm lucky I'll live long enough to pay that off by sitting on a Cat(again) for the next 30 years. Good thing I have a sense of humor.
And just for good measure, my land is worth less now than when I bought it.
I'm done here. Look for me on "Burned out pissed off old catskinners.net".
It's been a slice.

 

[greg]

right behind ya,tired and sik and tired

 

[Tex]

I am sorry to hear that.

Keep your head up.

This isn't all life is about.

 

[Maple Leaf Angus]

That's just real tough. I think I might know a bit of what both you and greg have gone through to reach this point. Been down that road myself. I'm just too incompetent to make the final decision to throw in the towel.

If you do sell out, I hope you do not beat yourself up for leaving the business, because your worth is not determined by this decision.

 

[Mrs.Greg]

Sorry to hear that Tim,you've been a great advocate for Canadian beef,kind of like the itch that won't go away. Saying greg and I understand would be an understatement....Good Luck Manitoba Buddy If your ever in the area...CALL :!:

 

[Jason]

My cows are going to town as well.

If I'm lucky I will be just able to pay off the debts and keep the land.

Nasty stuuf has happened to my family as well as the no profit in cows deal.

Looks like Canada will become a non export country soon. If we lose all the producers I thik we will, the domestic market will be enough to consume the remaining cattle.

The next question will be which big packer will survive to supply the domestic needs?

 

[Tex]

I'm sorry to hear that, Jason.

With just this little picture, I think I can see a lot others.

Tonight my prayers will be with all of you having this trouble.

 

[QUESTION]

Sorry to hear about you guys leaving the business. Sounds like you guys couldn't have gotten started at a worse time or had a rougher ride. Just remember it isn't how many times you get knocked down, just keep on getting up. And remember outside of agriculture 70 % of new businesses fail within the first 3 years. I guess to put it into perspective this way, i have a neighbor that started farming in the 70's with high interest rates and went bankrupt 2 times before getting it right now he runs 25000 ac of grain land and runs a line of steel anyone would be proud to have. His words were - it is farming learn from your mistakes you can always buy more cows, equipment and land. Your just need a bank that likes your math.

 

[rkaiser]

Sincerely sad to see you guys leave as well.

But why stay sympathetic to the very group that led you off the cliff to the very end Jason?

Jason -

The next question will be which big packer will survive to supply the domestic needs?

Hopefully neither one of the two pirates we willingly let in to this country will stay. "Survive" - that is a silly way to put profits that paid for the two plants here in Canada, and paid for those plants many many times while they raped this country. Don't worry about Cargill and Tyson surviving Jason. Not only have they survived and thrived here in Canada but they have expanded all over the world with the help of these captive markets created by BSE. If they choose to leave, for business reasons, they will be just fine and we will finally be able to rebuild our industry in a sustainable way with producer interests at heart and not simply profits for shareholders and family.

Your decision to stop is regrettable as is Tim's and gregs, but these decisions have more to do with your own personal economic choices than the demise of this industry. Canada will always produce beef, and produce wonderful nutritious healthy beef that will be welcomed by consumers all over the world. We can only hope that these pirates leave Jason, and then we can begin to show that potential and become profitable doing it.

Losing producers like the three of you is shameful and regrettable and I only hope that all three of you find a way to get back in again when things change for the better - which they will some day.

 

[greg]

Q...been in the business on my own 30 ys,still have some of dads genetics in my herd.tired of fighting weather,bse,prices.nothin on the place not paid for,its not about the money i got its about the money i get for the end product after fighting to get hay in summer,managing pasture in a summer of drought,feedin in the winters.r calf nothin to me but a pimple on my ass

 

[rainie]

Sorry to hear of you fellas leaving. Was at a farm sale a week ago. 200 young bred cows averaged 415.00 A lot of cattle have left this part of the country the last two years. Equipment at the sale (mostly green and pretty much new) went cheap. Pretty much half of what it should have brought. Cattle guys have no extra money and aren't sticking their necks out, myself included. On the other side of the coin, my grain farming neighbors aren't real happy either. Grain may be high, but so is the price of fertilizer, equipment etc. They've also spent thousands upon thousands of dollars getting that crop in the ground and off. Some of these guys are so stressed out they are almost vibrating. A couple of real good neighbors are thinking about throwing in the towel. I hate losing good neighbors.

 

[QUESTION]

Hey greg i guess a guy has to decide what is life all about. I know ranching and farming is never going to make me a multi -millionaire. I run a Pb and commercial herd as well as grain farm and and have a partnership in a a small prov. inspected packing plant to value add to my own cattle and bought into a much larger federal plant in Sk and a livestock consulting business for PB breeders. To say things can get hectic is an understatement. So why do i do it, so i can see the sunrise out here on a clear winter's day or a week old calf frolicing and playing. That is the true payoff. But i realize you have to make a living too and not everyone can be as diversified as i am. I do not hope for misfortunes of others but this is a business and a profit must be made. And if you have to think outside the box to make a profit then that is what it takes. I sold early
in sept the majority of my bigger heavier calves the market was up 20 to 25 cents from current prices. Instead of sending the majority of my remaining commercial and cull hfr calves to market as feeders and getting 70 cents a pound i have presold them as baby beef for the freezer beef market at $3.50 a pound CaW the 6-700 calves with net me a decent dollar. I know everyone can't do this but i feel this type of thinking is what is needed.

 

[Kathy]

Caution,

like the grain market.... suppressed prices have driven out farmers, caused the loss of our country elevators, ripped out many rail lines and surprisingly seen the influx of multinational grain companies into Western Canada.

Why would they move in when the grain markets were the shi*s... because they aren't anymore.... prices are up.... and just in time for those that stuck with it to make some money....including those multinationals.

I feel like quiting all the time. I have said for a couple years now, that Canadian beef producers will likely become limited to what they can sell within their own country.

I was amazed to watch "Market Place" the other night, as it discussed what "Product of Canada" labels mean. It only means that 51% of the cost of production was incurred in Canada. For example, the fish in Highliners packages was coming from India and China (frozen) shipped to our Canadian coasts and packaged. Garlic was grown in China, and the list went on and on and on......

Canadians have been dupped into believing that "Product of Canada" meant grown in Canada. The consumer assumed they were helping out Canadian producers. They do want to help, as do USA consumers with their own producers.

So I am really pi**ed too, to see people leave a business that they used to love because they can't make enough, or just can't stand the BS anymore.

This path is exactly the one that the natural resource industries wants us ranchers to take. Hell, they don't want any people on the land getting in their way while they drill for the Worlds oil and gas, mine for the Worlds minerals, and turn Western Canada into a cesspool of toxic water and air.

 

[HAY MAKER]

Fats are down to $0.75 or $1.27 on the rail. 6 weight feeders bring less than a buck. Bred cows are bringing about $500,on average.......I'm out!!!!
I paid $1200/head for my cowherd in 2001(a shitload of cows). If I'm lucky I'll live long enough to pay that off by sitting on a Cat(again) for the next 30 years. Good thing I have a sense of humor.
And just for good measure, my land is worth less now than when I bought it.
I'm done here. Look for me on "Burned out p****d off old catskinners.net".
It's been a slice.

Tim,you sound like a neighbor of mine,when prices are flat he sells because there aint no money in cattle...........just a pain in the ass.
Then as soon as prices are fair he is back buying because cattle are worth something now :???: :???: :???:
I will assume you were just hung over when you made this _________statement.
And you understand it takes a life time to build a good herd for the kids.............good luck

 

[PORKER]

Kathy Quote;I was amazed to watch "Market Place" the other night, as it discussed what "Product of Canada" labels mean. It only means that 51% of the cost of production was incurred in Canada. For example, the fish in Highliners packages was coming from India and China (frozen) shipped to our Canadian coasts and packaged. Garlic was grown in China, and the list went on and on and on......

Canadians have been dupped into believing that "Product of Canada" meant grown in Canada. The consumer assumed they were helping out Canadian producers. They do want to help, as do USA consumers with their own producers.

Don't feel lonesome as everyone in the US. has the same Problem

Maybe there needs to be a new label, ITS 100% CANADIAN

 

[Manitoba_Rancher]

Fats are down to $0.75 or $1.27 on the rail. 6 weight feeders bring less than a buck. Bred cows are bringing about $500,on average.......I'm out!!!!
I paid $1200/head for my cowherd in 2001(a shitload of cows). If I'm lucky I'll live long enough to pay that off by sitting on a Cat(again) for the next 30 years. Good thing I have a sense of humor.
And just for good measure, my land is worth less now than when I bought it.
I'm done here. Look for me on "Burned out p****d off old catskinners.net".
It's been a slice.

Tim,you sound like a neighbor of mine,when prices are flat he sells because there aint no money in cattle...........just a pain in the ass.
Then as soon as prices are fair he is back buying because cattle are worth something now :???: :???: :???:
I will assume you were just hung over when you made this _________statement.
And you understand it takes a life time to build a good herd for the kids.............good luck

Haymaker,

Tim is like the rest of us with the input costs so high its hard to even break even on cattle right now. And its been that way since BSE hit. Remember before you start shooting your mouth off that up here we have to feed cows from middle of October til End of may first week of June. Before there is any grass. This makes our input costs a lot higher than ranchers in Texas.

 

[Cowpuncher]

We will probably be leaving the business in the next month or so, but our story is a bit better.

We bought 14 years ago when no one wanted the land. Spent a fortune on fixing the place up, doubled our herd, calf prices are OK.

But I am getting a bit on the old side and we have a good offer to sell to someone with a bunch of 1031 money. We are selling the whole thing on a turn key deal.

We will get hit with a bunch of taxes, but with democrats taking over the government, taxes are more likely to go up than down.

It has been a good run, especially Monday when whe shipped 8 loads of March and April calves weighing between 650 and 700 pounds.

Its hard to predict what is going to happen to the farm and ranch economy, nothing is subject to more uncertainty.

But, damn, it had been a good time.

 

[HAY MAKER]

Fats are down to $0.75 or $1.27 on the rail. 6 weight feeders bring less than a buck. Bred cows are bringing about $500,on average.......I'm out!!!!
I paid $1200/head for my cowherd in 2001(a shitload of cows). If I'm lucky I'll live long enough to pay that off by sitting on a Cat(again) for the next 30 years. Good thing I have a sense of humor.
And just for good measure, my land is worth less now than when I bought it.
I'm done here. Look for me on "Burned out p****d off old catskinners.net".
It's been a slice.

Tim,you sound like a neighbor of mine,when prices are flat he sells because there aint no money in cattle...........just a pain in the ass.
Then as soon as prices are fair he is back buying because cattle are worth something now :???: :???: :???:
I will assume you were just hung over when you made this _________statement.
And you understand it takes a life time to build a good herd for the kids.............good luck

Haymaker,

Tim is like the rest of us with the input costs so high its hard to even break even on cattle right now. And its been that way since BSE hit. Remember before you start shooting your mouth off that up here we have to feed cows from middle of October til End of may first week of June. Before there is any grass. This makes our input costs a lot higher than ranchers in Texas.

manitoba wanna be,if people like you would get out of ranching,it would be better for cattlemen,seems like people like you always have a cheap excuse why they caint get by,if it aint bse it would be something else,maybe you oughta be a turkey farmer,i hear the packers will build you a turkey pen and bring you their turkeys to raise.
that way you could be the head turkey
good luck

 

[rkaiser]

Porker

Maybe there needs to be a new label, ITS 100% CANADIAN

100% BSE tested Canadian Beef with no added hormoanl implants...........


Working on it Porker

 

[hillsdown]

Porker

Maybe there needs to be a new label, ITS 100% CANADIAN

100% BSE tested Canadian Beef with no added hormonal implants...........


Working on it Porker

I would love to see that.
I think that is something we (producers) should all hope to see our end product as.
Why work your ass off and sarcrafice so much if the end product does not reflect what you have put into it.