What's happening to our cattle industry?

[marmac]

Buying 300 acres and raising 25 calves a year is gonna take a huge amount of money.

Off farm jobs must pay quite well in Montana to be able to afford it.

[MTSilvertip]

Originally Posted by marmac

Off farm jobs must pay quite well in Montana to be able to afford it.

No, off farm jobs don't pay well here, but if someone desires that kind of life, it is do-able.

My uncle worked such a spread for many years. My aunt was a school teacher and while they weren't rich, they got by.

I have recently found several places that run from 100 acres to 640 acres that are priced from $350 - $750 an acre. Some have more water or workable ground than others, some are closer to towns than others, all are east of the divide so are removed from the "pretty" parts of the state and are still agricultural.

Selling hay, renting pasture, raising purebred or specialty livestock or raising specialty crops that command a premium price, yes it can be done on a small place. You won't have a lot of money and you have to be resourceful, but you can make a living and raise a family that way. You have to maximize the available resources and use the land to it's best features and qualities, you will put in a lot of work and endless hours, but it can be done.

Question is, is it the kind of close to the bone existence that you want to live?

You won't get rich like that, you won't be taking European vacations, you may shop at thrift stores for you clothes or put off visits to the doctor if you don't have to absolutely go, but for someone wanting a life where they are their own boss, their kids have a great environment to grow up, you have pride of producing most of your own food and living on your own terms, to me, that is worth a lot more than a new car every year.

But to the original question, the answer lies in votes and numbers. To make any substantive changes, you have to have people to vote for changes to make ranching less cost prohibitive as the goverment only exists to create roadblocks, so you need to have the numbers to force them to put the roadblocks in front of the people killing agriculture instead of in front of small ag.

[Reziac]

I can't remember if I linked to this excellent article earlier here, but if not, here it is, and if I did, well, it's worth repeating...

Speak Your Piece: Two Cents | Daily Yonder | Keep It Rural

Just two cents a pound to make the industry profitable again. Meanwhile, look at the graph and be afraid for our future.

[Reziac]

An interesting article on how the packing industry effectively controls the entire livestock production industry (be aware that NewWest has a very strong leftist/envirowacko bias, and add salt accordingly):

Montana Attorney General Works to Protect Farmers and Ranchers | Jason D. B. Kauffman | Food & Agriculture | NewWest.Net

However, if you ask me, Bullard has a distinct problem with "put your money where your mouth is" From the article:

Bullard has especially complimentary words for the antitrust efforts being waged by the Obama administration. He said they’ve recognized the importance of maintaining competitiveness in the nation’s agriculture industry. Cattle producers alone generate $50 billion in cash receipts each year, making this the largest segment of the nation’s agricultural industry.

Whether the current admin "gets" small business or competitiveness is debatable; however it continues:

Bullard’s organization is backing new federal rules meant to strengthen the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921. The proposed GIPSA Rule, named for the USDA Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, was published in the federal register on June 22. The official comment period for the proposed new federal regulations ended Monday, Nov. 22.

But when I look at the Packers and Stockyards Act, it strikes me that it may very well be exactly what led to the present situation, with only four large packers in control of the entire industry. Seems to me every time an industry is prohibited from expanding in certain ways, it winds up with a vertical monopoly instead, which actually defeats the original purpose of maintaining a competitive market. This appears to be exactly what happened to the small packing industry.

Anyway, I'd like to hear your opinions (especially from folks with experience in any facet of the cattle industry) on Bullard and on what he had to say about all this.