Ripoff ?

[seedcorn]

oh dear can we agree to disagree friends.

NO!!!!!!! I'll fight till end.

 

[catjac1975]

Sorry, folks...didn't mean to break bad on the thread. I just hate seeing folks being bullied and I hate being bullied. Sorry, Bob!

For what it's worth, Bobm, I think it's a ripoff as well when they charge more for grass fed and pasture raised meats and eggs, simply because it's cheaper to raise them that way in the first place so it's not in an effort to defray costs.

Organic is another matter, as one must jump through a lot of hoops and pay extra money to obtain the feed, so the extra cost can be justified somewhat, though not the HUGE price of $7 per doz. I don't care if it's a supply and demand sort of thing, I think it's still a ripoff and a price gouge.

It is not cheaper to raise beef grass fed. Grain fed beef grows much faster making it much cheaper to raise.

 

[Beekissed]

It is not cheaper to raise beef grass fed. Grain fed beef grows much faster making it much cheaper to raise.

Well, let's explore that, shall we? How much does grass actually cost? Is it more expensive than grain? If one is growing their own grass and/or growing their own grain, which is the more costly to grow and process? How about the cost of the machinery to do those separate crops? Hay equipment more costly than a combine, grain elevator and building and maintaining grain storage?

Now, then, how is it more costly to raise cows a little longer on grass that is already growing as opposed to grains that either need bought from an outside source or plowed, sown and grown on the farm?

Grass fed takes a little more managing and more space during feeding, but no more space than it takes to grow corn or other grains, so the land cost is six of one, half dozen of the other.

The length of time to get to market is causing extra expense? Has anyone totaled that extra expense up and determined if it costs more to wait a few more months as the cattle are moved from one paddock to another eating pasture, as opposed to the amount of grain it costs to pen a steer and feed in a feed lot? I'd like to see that information because I really can't see it.

I've been to Salatin's farm and was not a bit impressed with the price jacking he does merely because his animals are standing on grass..he's actually got a pretty low overhead going on and he's raking in money hand over fist just because city folks don't know any better. I love his pasture methods and some of his animal husbandry methods in regards to beef~NOT chickens, heaven forbid..his chickens were miserable.

 

[bobm]

Well consider this : All beef ( and dairy steers) are grass fed (as being on pasture is much more cheaper than fed in a corral and being fed hay and grain plus requires more equipment and labor to achieve skeletal and muscle growth ) until they are about a year old ( dairy breeds need more time on pasture than the beef breeds to reach more size and to build muscle due to their dairy genetics before they are sent to a feed lot)...THEN the beef breeds are sent to the feed lot to finish on alfalfa hay plus grain to achieve a fat marbling within, between and over their muscles for 90 to 120 days. Fat is what imparts flavor to the meat , therefore the better the grade of carcass and the more flavor it gives, it is worth more in the market place. So, since it costs more to finish beef in a feed lot , the proponents of grass fed only to reap additional profits by using publicity bias that makes it seem to the un-knowlegable public that somehow makes the grass fed only more healthy since they claim with the scare tactic that the feedlots pump the cattle with antibiotics and homones which is blatantly UNTRUE. You see these items are expensive and require lots of labor therefore eats up profits... this makes NO SENCE. So only those animals that may become unhealthy are treated and only sent to be butchered AFTER the antibiotics have done their job and are out of the body and beyond the withholding period. In reality, the grass fed only beef or dairy bred carcass is not as tasty due to lesser amount of fat marbling and cover on the carcass, is tougher due to the animal having to travel over hill and dale to eat grass,and therefore financially not as valuable in the marketplace but due to scare tactics and biased publicity which makes the buying public think otherwise and so they pay MORE for that product.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm not a fan of grass fed flavor of beef either, though it works wonderful for chickens. Around these parts we'll keep beef out on pasture until time to butcher, then put them in a feed lot and grain them for a few weeks or so to sweeten the meat.

Deer that is harvested in the spring/summer due to crop damage has a horrible flavor from eating grass/forbes and it's because they have not consumed the nuts and acorns they normally get in the fall when we are normally harvesting them. Cows have that same flavor when on grass until finish, though hair sheep don't tend to...they still taste sweet on grass.

I'm seriously not a fan of all grass fed beef. I'd be finishing them on something..anything...before butchering, but I don't know that I've ever tasted worse meat than a grass fed steer. The dog hesitated to eat it and acted like he was eating something horrible....and he has eaten a whole bag of paint balls before, so he's not real picky...normally eats anything at all.

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

Well consider this : All beef ( and dairy steers) are grass fed (as being on pasture is much more cheaper than fed in a corral and being fed hay and grain plus requires more equipment and labor to achieve skeletal and muscle growth ) until they are about a year old ( dairy breeds need more time on pasture than the beef breeds to reach more size and to build muscle due to their dairy genetics before they are sent to a feed lot)...THEN the beef breeds are sent to the feed lot to finish on alfalfa hay plus grain to achieve a fat marbling within, between and over their muscles for 90 to 120 days. Fat is what imparts flavor to the meat , therefore the better the grade of carcass and the more flavor it gives, it is worth more in the market place. So, since it costs more to finish beef in a feed lot , the proponents of grass fed only to reap additional profits by using publicity bias that makes it seem to the un-knowlegable public that somehow makes the grass fed only more healthy since they claim with the scare tactic that the feedlots pump the cattle with antibiotics and homones which is blatantly UNTRUE. You see these items are expensive and require lots of labor therefore eats up profits... this makes NO SENCE. So only those animals that may become unhealthy are treated and only sent to be butchered AFTER the antibiotics have done their job and are out of the body and beyond the withholding period. In reality, the grass fed only beef or dairy bred carcass is not as tasty due to lesser amount of fat marbling and cover on the carcass, is tougher due to the animal having to travel over hill and dale to eat grass,and therefore financially not as valuable in the marketplace but due to scare tactics and biased publicity which makes the buying public think otherwise and so they pay MORE for that product.

How about you give me some proof that these are scare tactics? All that you've done so far is describe how things were raised were you worked/ in your locality. It might be true were you worked or were you live - but not everybody raised their livestock or grows there food in the same way, there's proof of that all over the place here (TEG). Not everybody uses your kind of "logic" either.

And you really shouldn't be talking about bias when you're just as biased as anybody else is.

 

[bobm]

Seedo ...I have lived in several States across this great land as well as over on the other side of the pond and too, I have more than a half century of experience over you under my belt both in the school of hard knocks, University graduate, as well as owning ranches, and worked in research and teaching in a laboratory at a University and private serology and real estate businesses. I have worked with scientists from all over this planet. So I have not been quite limited to only one location, climate, or peoples much less ideas. Now, if you open and read, then understand scientific Text Books as well as Published peer revued Scientific Journals, instead of someone 's self proclaimed " expert " work , one would have a better understanding of the real world. Now coming to logic and bias... in some of your more recent postings it seems that you have closed your mind and have little interest in a meaningful conversation to explore others' ideas and point of view and acquire unbiased knowledge of the real world. Good luck !

 

[thistlebloom]

Sorry, folks...didn't mean to break bad on the thread. I just hate seeing folks being bullied and I hate being bullied. Sorry, Bob! I don't care if it's a supply and demand sort of thing, I think it's still a ripoff and a price gouge.

How is it a ripoff when you can walk away from it and buy something that is more in line with what you are willing to pay?

It's a choice. Pay the high price and those people will continue to keep their price high. Walk away and if there are no willing customers, they lower the price or get into another line of work. Simple.

 

[seedcorn]

who are harvesting deer in spring and summer? In Indiana, you will go to jail for that-poaching it's called. No wonder they are seeing fawns, explains a lot.

 

[Beekissed]

who are harvesting deer in spring and summer? In Indiana, you will go to jail for that-poaching it's called. No wonder they are seeing fawns, explains a lot.

Crop permits...ever heard of them?