Tinfoil hat guy is back

[saltamontes5]

Hello ladies and gentlemen, I have set back and watched how several of you have begun to bring up topics that I tried to get started before. I am glad that many of you are starting to care about real life changing change that is going on around you. I would encourage a read of the article below.
www.technologyreview.com/s/614235/recombinetics-gene-edited-hornless-cattle-major-dna-screwup/

Of which I will only make the following comments. We worry about breed purity, before long you really should only worry that you cattle still actually being pure bovine. Articles like this tell me it is time to genetics nailed down and then close my herd before someone lets this in. This is an argument for closed and line bred herds like non other. More to point if you want to stay cattlemen soon you will either need to contract as a Tyson, or Perdue grower and grow the genetic freaks they want or provide you, or you will need to have some sort of niche market for your mainstream hated genetics. Get started on your cottage businesses boys and girls. That is if cattle are not outlawed entirely.

[Glenn]

Perhaps you in your rush to post some ‘original’ thought didn’t see that I’ve already posted this.

[lcc]

What I have always admired about the cattle industry is how independent individual producers are from other big players in the market.

Growing up, I listened to my grandpa talk about raising hogs - he loved it. But I never got to experience that because by the time I came along hogs had almost gone totally to confinement. You either had to have a multimillion dollar facility or some strict contract, etc. That kind of production has never appealed to me, its just not the same as raising cattle.

I really do fear that over the next several years, the cattle industry to going to be unrecognizable to people like me. The amount of market power that certain corporations have over the industry, and the amount of regulatory capture those entities have with the government, is something that just p*sses me off.

[saltamontes5]

Aug 29, 2019 19:07:34 GMT -6 Glenn said:

Perhaps you in your rush to post some ‘original’ thought didn’t see that I’ve already posted this.

Thanks Glenn I knew you were a Ton Foil hat guy also.

[Glenn]

I admit that but mine is different brand. I worry NONE about "fake meat" and "DNA Custom Cows" because I know they are Red Herrings. Not real threats, but made to seem threatening by the corporatocracy using them as tools to beat the industry into submission. Their goal is a a system if not totally like the Poultry/Pig model, a lot like that. The biggest threat and one that probably has too much steam to be beat right now is mandatory ID. This will give the Big 4 total control over the market (they are 90% there now, anyways). Sold as an animal health disease traceability issue, it ultimately is a CONTROL issue.

[Glenn]

And it is laughable to see the AAA and AHA and other breed associations on board with Mandatory ID. They will be one of the first casualties. They will be made totally insignificant and rendered to be a registration book for hobbyist, like the swine associations of today.

[larso]

Sept 1, 2019 13:33:26 GMT -6 Glenn said:

I admit that but mine is different brand. I worry NONE about "fake meat" and "DNA Custom Cows" because I know they are Red Herrings. Not real threats, but made to seem threatening by the corporatocracy using them as tools to beat the industry into submission. Their goal is a a system if not totally like the Poultry/Pig model, a lot like that. The biggest threat and one that probably has too much steam to be beat right now is mandatory ID. This will give the Big 4 total control over the market (they are 90% there now, anyways). Sold as an animal health disease traceability issue, it ultimately is a CONTROL issue.

We have had mandatory ID for many years now, the reason given at the time it came in was disease control or outbreak control, it was also said it would open up new markets internationally, it was also claimed that we would be seen to be world leaders in animal practices and health. I have seen no proof of all this either way. CONTROL is a new angle I haven’t even thought of, all I know it creates a lot more paperwork for the farmers and justifies another ass sitting job for a fat bureaucrat .
Personally I think the elephant in the room is the far left loonies polluting the minds of our school children that farmers are environmental vandals, that our animal husbandry is cruel and unethical. I saw it yesterday at our local show where a breeder was labeled barbaric because of the ring in the nose of the bull he was leading, funny though the accuser had a lot more ‘ bling’ hanging off her head than the bull. One old farmer suggested someone could clip a lead rope on her and lead her around the ring, we just couldn’t work out what class to put her in! The world has gone crazy.

[timbernt]

Larso hit the nail on the head that a lot of the push is by those who want to benefit financially. In the beef industry we a have a professional class that wants to wear a big hat and not have to get manure on their boots. Those people roll from one high paying job to the next. Google what salaries your checkoff dollars pay. Hell, if I had any sense I would get on the bandwagon as well. The market I serve as veterinarian sold 80,000 head last year. $3/HD for feeder calf ID would be a nice raise. Now, I wouldn't dare tell the truth and push mandatory ID so I could profit from it. No, I would need to talk about the smokescreen of traceability and international market share.

[Glenn]

They get mandatory ID passed and it may be a boon for vets for a few years (3-5) but they will be a victim just like the breed associations. Within 10 years there will be no more sale barns, local feed stores, either. You will more or less be a contract "grower" for one of the packing houses (or more likely one of their owned or controlled feed yards). You will have a contract to deliver X number of head on X date (probably a 3-4 week window). You will use semen from their bulls or live cover from one of their approved vendors. You will contractually agree to follow THEIR set protocol, and this doesn't mean giving sub Q shots and being a general good stockman. It means using their approved vaccines and supplements, their approved feed and feed supplements, all ordered online from THEM or their approved vendor and drop shipped to you. No more local feed stores, no more local vets, no more local sale barns. Vets will be contract employees of the feedyards and have a client list supplied to them.

People better stiffen their spines and toe the mark against this ID deal or it is over. The day it goes into affect will be a slow bleed out of the industry for 10 years. Some "chosen" folks will be given what appear to be lucrative contracts in the beginning playing to their egos (look they chose me because of my great genetics) but in reality they will be chosen because the are the "go along to get along" types ("team players").

I wish I could say I was hopeful but in reality the cattle business looks like a dead model unless you desire to be a contract employee of a big corporation.

[timbernt]

Glenn, you are absolutely correct. Every county cattlemens association in the US is an unwitting accomplice by giving credence to the NCBA's claim to represent the cattle industry. The best thing that could happen is if every cattle producer renounced the NCBA for the fraud they are! As my Dad said years ago, the NCBA is nothing but a lackey for the packers.

[franklinridgefarms]

Sept 2, 2019 11:41:29 GMT -6 timbernt said:

Glenn, you are absolutely correct. Every county cattlemens association in the US is an unwitting accomplice by giving credence to the NCBA's claim to represent the cattle industry. The best thing that could happen is if every cattle producer renounced the NCBA for the fraud they are! As my Dad said years ago, the NCBA is nothing but a lackey for the packers.

I have been thinking about the same thing.  I have been a member of our county association for years, but decided the other night, I doubt I will send in my dues this coming year.  I haven't been a member of NCBA for a long time.

[strojanherefords]

I too question the relevancy of the local Cattlemen's Associations but I also believe that we are in the business of marketing cattle and the local Cattlemen's Association meeting is good place to meet potential buyers. If we can influence things for the better that is a plus.

[franklinridgefarms]

Sept 2, 2019 20:33:36 GMT -6 strojanherefords said:

I too question the relevancy of the local Cattlemen's Associations but I also believe that we are in the business of marketing cattle and the local Cattlemen's Association meeting is good place to meet potential buyers. If we can influence things for the better that is a plus.

I agree with your sentiment, but unfortunately I can't see much that ours has accomplished.  The state association has hired some folks.  I was so impressed by a county meeting a couple years ago, that I haven't been back.  It never ceases to amaze me that that the folks associated with the organization pretty much just spout the same rhetoric that we always hear, always excuses as to why the market trends are the way they are. Even when it makes no logical sense how point A leads to point B.

[strojanherefords]

The nature of the industry is that the interests of the packers, feeders and cow calf are not always aligned. We as smaller cow calf producers need someone listening at the table and telling us what issues are going to impact us. We have the benefit of numbers, it is just a matter of informed on the issues. Going forward, I think that needs to be the role of the breed associations. The should be looking out for the interests of their membership's and their membership's customers interest's. We need to have a staff that is committed to caring about the membership and not looking to jump ship to the AAA.