Feeling cheated, ranchers are opting out of the meatpacking system. Biden is backing them up.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Damon Watson is a fourth generation cattle rancher in rural Oklahoma, and his son and daughter hope to be the fifth. In recent years, however, it has become more difficult to envision that future: The profitability of the farm has fallen and opportunities in Council Hill, a town 60 miles south of Tulsa with slightly more than 100 people, continue to dry up.

Even as consumers pay more for meat at grocery stores, ranchers like Watson have struggled to earn a high enough price for their cattle from meat processors. He’s seen most of the other small farmers in the area give up cattle ranching altogether because it isn’t as profitable.

“Most people have options if you’re selling something,” Watson said. “For farmers and ranchers, you get told by the packers what you’re going to get for it and you better hope you’re happy with it.”

He and other cattle ranchers are increasingly upset by the thin margins they earn, driving a large number of farmers to bankruptcy. Meanwhile, according to the Department of Agriculture, giant meat processors have earned record profits in an industry worth well over $200 billion.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/feeling-cheated-ranchers-opting-meatpacking-090010648.html

[Champp]

1. Hey, ranchers and farmers: Come home to the Big D Tent

where you belong.

Multi-millionaire propagandist Limbaugh is dead, so you need not listen to his clones on right-wing radio while you are working, and you need not sicken your soul with any more of what the billionaire-backed Republican organ-grinding Fox News tells you. Do you really think the Republican Big Money Cronies have your best interests at heart?



The Republican lies and Russian propaganda have poisoned your thoughts for generations.

Take an honest look at what Biden and the Dems are doing for you and for America. And get back to where you belong.

[ret5hd]

2. It is frustrating to see how much has changed in one generation...

the dustbowl Okie farmers weren't "conservative"...they were begging, demanding change. When the government showed them how to change their farming practices...they listened. When the government supported prices, they cheered.

And now, current day, when I pointed out to my mother that the "commodity cheese" and "commodity peanut butter" she and her siblings (even I, as a very young person) ate and survived on was essentially "welfare"...OH! THE OFFENSE THAT CAME TO HER EYES!

What did you think it was mom? Free food and all.

[niyad]

3. A slightly different viewpoint. .perhaps it is time to consider a slightly more ecologically

friendly and sustainable business?

[Merlot]

4. Slightly more ecologically friendly and sustainable than meat?

That's a low bar.

[niyad]

5. True, but. . ,baby steps??

[NickB79]

8. On shortgrass prairie? There's literally nothing ecologically better than ranching

I mean, they could switch from cattle to bison, and reduce the number of animals they run per acre, but that's about it. Large grazing animals have been part of the prairie biome for millions of years.

The alternative is plowing up the prairie, sinking irrigation wells, and growing crops, creating an ecological desert.

[niyad]

9. So, because it has always been done, it must continue? There are no other options?

That is extremely sad.

[NickB79]

10. Grazing herbivores are what made the prairies

Their dung built carbon-rich topsoil meters thick for millions of years that fosters a diverse ecosystem to this day.

We replaced bison with cattle, but they're functionally the same, as long as you don't overgraze the land.

Like I said, there is no agriculture you can practice on prairie other than ranching that doesn't destroy it. Even no-till displaces the prairie grasses and flowers.

[Red Mountain]

11. Thanks

Grazing is generally good.

[niyad]

13. Then, as I was suggesting, it is obviously time to think in completely new directions.

[NickB79]

14. Such as?

The only other direction is to stop all agriculture on the Plains and return millions of acres to nature. Personally I'd be fine with that, but millions of people who depend on the Plains states for jobs and food would probably object.

[niyad]

15. Such as. . .I do not know. But surely, intelligent minds can come up

with something other than agriculture, which seems to be the sole focus of some.

[cinematicdiversions]

17. It is not really sad it is more just science.

Ww could stop grazing and discontinue the prairie. Other food production simply is not really an option on such land.

[niyad]

18. Then other uses have to be found,

[in2herbs]

6. Does this mean they'll start selling directly to the consumer, like Omaha Steaks??? If more $$ can

go to the small rancher rather than packers and agri meat producers I'd be for it, but want to see details. But, agree, meat production overall needs to be drastically reduced.

[A HERETIC I AM]

16. There are numerous other firms and farms doing direct from the farm marketing.

Porter Road, for instance. Moink, Wild Fork Foods, Crowd Cow and a few more easily found via Google.

The beef and other meat is more expensive than the grocery store, but the prices reflect the actual cost of properly raised meat, from actual free-range chickens and pork to other meats like turkey, veal, lamb and more.

I’ve ordered a few things from Porter Road and their products are superb and sourced from small family farms.

There is a Tik Tok account by a beef farmer in Oregon who has thousands of followers and makes the idea very clear in this short vid;

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMRwgAnJ9/


Edited to add this video from Reverent Farms in Georgia. This guy has a completely charming way of getting his cattle to move from one pasture to another!



https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMRwg6K9w/

I expect more beef farmers will go this route.

[obamanut2012]

20. I have a Wild Forks not horribly far away

We drive their once a month and buy all our meat there. Excellent, as is their ready made stuff.

[multigraincracker]

7. Lots of local butchers and producers

around here. Always seems a better deal when you buy a 1/4 or 1/2. I buy a whole lamb and it is lot cheaper for the good cuts and they are grass fed.

[xmas74]

12. We used to have meat lockers around here

That accepted food stamps and would allow people to take out a little at a time. If they bought a half cow they'd have X amount if ground beef,roasts,steaks,etc. People could take out 10 lbs gr beef, a roast, etc at a time.

This worked out very well for everyone involved. No one had to have large freezers at home and with the lockers allowing a monthly payment towards the total cost of meat it became more affordable for families on fixed incomes. I'd like to see more of this come back and be enacted on a larger scale, cutting out the big factory middle men.

[womanofthehills]

19. Lots of ranchers out by me - ranchers & local small grocery bought the local

meat processing company. High quality grass fed beef, not corn finished, gets good prices. Now we always have grass fed beef in our small local grocery. Small ranchers out here sell direct to customers - starting at $200 you can get a nice selection of beef. A woman in my book club can sell all the grassfed beef she has direct to people in the community.