Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere

I have been hearing more and more about grass fed beef and the potential there is for profitability there. I'm not opposed in any way, shape or form to people doing this. I think it's great for the cattle business as a whole.It takes many more acres of ground to get a critter to slaughter weight on just grass so there are less total cattle in the country which helps raise prices for all Cattlemen. Works out good.

I do think people really need to watch out what grass fed really means though. With new rules being proposed by the USDA, it might not mean what you think.

Grass-Fed Rule Angers Farmers

THE Agriculture Department has proposed allowing animals to be labeled grass-fed even if they never saw a pasture and were fed antibiotics and hormones.

When Martin E. O’Connor, chief of the standardization branch of the department’s livestock and feed program, explained the proposed rule at a conference of the American Grassfed Association in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Friday, members were angry.

Producers of grass-fed animals have waited for years for the department to develop certification standards and procedures, like the organic certification and seal, to distinguish grass-fed animals from conventionally raised animals. When department officials asked for input four years ago, association members replied that the rule should require that an animal be fed on pastures except in emergency circumstances where its life would be threatened, and also that the animal should be free from antibiotics and hormones.

So, if you think that grass fed means cattle peacefully grazing on only pasture, organically. You're wrong. I think this is the picture most people think of with grass fed beef and the new rules just don't require that. They can be stuck in a feedlot just like other cattle being fed grain it's just their ration needs to comprise 99% grass, legumes and forage. It doesn't need to be harvested by the critter itself to make it grass fed, it just needs to be fed to them.

I think the consumer gets bamboozled sometimes by things like this. A label that is used claims all-natural or something similar and they think its good for them. Arsenic is all natural, but it's not very good for you. Same thing with grass fed. They think it means grazing cattle on pasture when it really doesn't. Buyer beware.

I personally think the grass fed beef demand growing is just like other things in the food industry, it's a fad. It will grow quite a while, peak out and then fall back off. I am not going to start raising grass fed beef for sale. My production numbers would go so low it wouldn't even be funny. This dry country out here doesn't support enough numbers to make it worth my while. The way the drought is going across the country I am not sure anywhere can support it. More power to the Cattleman that are raising grass fed beef and profiting from it. Take advantage of the fad and reap the money before some rich sucker like Ted Turner comes along and wrecks it for you like he did the Buffalo markets. That's all that's going to happen and the late comers will lose their shirts in the process.

My concern would be that we launch off on pashmina politics where we end up adopting the fad just about to go out of fashion. Iain Duncan Smith

No, I'm not selling any but this story caught my eye.

Herd liquidation continues in South Dakota

Herd liquidation continues in South Dakota as the drought drags on. That’s according to Myron Williams, president of the Black Hills chapter of the South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association.

Williams says herd liquidation is especially intense in the northwest and north central South Dakota communities of Faith, Mobridge and Herried. According to Williams, ranchers in those parts of the state have held on as long as they can, but have been forced to sell entire herds as the drought continues.

We've had a break in the drought here last year and kind of this year but I'm really beginning to wonder the way this year is going if it isn't coming back. I was never forced to sell my herd through the 8 years of drought we experienced but I sure had to cut down on cow numbers. I have worked them up a little but I am still not to maximum stocking rates and I am really beginning to think I need to cut down again. I should finish the year with some grass left which is always my goal, but not as much as I would like with the continuing drought situation threatening.

There were some people that had to sell out during the drought around here and seeing this going on in South Dakota now is tough. Having to sell all your cows would be a tough decision but you have to do the right thing by the critters. Letting them starve to death isn't right but it has to be heartbreaking to sell. My thoughts and prayers go out to these Cattlemen.

Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees. Victor Hugo