Posted on 10/05/2015 7:33:55 AM PDT by C19fan
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We have rarely bought beef in our house in the last 4 or 5 years. Mostly been pork and chicken. We also try to buy a half or whole pig from the butcher (usually equating to $2/lb) and that keeps us stocked up for months.
There is a cycle in the pricing of the various sources of animal protein. For beef, the length is something like eleven years. With prices as high as they are now, the breeders of beef cattle are encouraged to breed up still more cattle, in which instance they hold back all the heifers being born right now, and since one bull can service as many as fifty or more females, that is approximately the ratio right now. Now, a beef heifer is sexually mature about 18 months of age, and has a 9-month gestation period, so the first offspring would be born when the young cow is about 27 months of age. One calf per year, for a lifetime of producing calves maybe to age ten-twelve, then fertility problems start setting in, and the now mature female becomes the hamburger that makes McDonald’s wealthy, but meanwhile there are five or six offspring, some of which are male, and are turned into steers (about 52% of all live offspring are male), the remainder into the next generation’s breeding stock. From scarcity of breeding stock, there is now a glut, the price of beef falls, and the excess herd goes to kill, as there was no longer the incentive to breed more to expand the herd. Suddenly, the herd has gotten TOO small, and the inevitable rise in beef prices begins again, rekindling the cycle. Just about eleven years again.
Wait a while. Cheap cuts of beef will return. But since it is a perishable product, the window never lasts long.
Our Elk hunter didn’t get drawn for a hunt.
So we will have to deal with venison and wild hog meat, chicken and store pork.
You eat dead animals? Isn’t soy good enough for you?
Meat should be reserved for the elite. Sounds like you need some time in the camps so you can learn to appreciate the food allocated to the proles.
$4.99 a pound for ground beef here. Ugh. Yeah, getting use to eating more pork and chicken and finding different ways to prepare it, but boy, do I miss a nice big juicy steak.
Hmm...I thought the smaller wild hogs were OK.
Rabbits, then squirrels which are everywhere. I remember fried squirrel & homemade fries growing up.
Interesting article about Cattle Cycles.
http://www.agriculture.com/news/livestock/cattle-cycle-recd-prices-stretching_3-ar45813
~snip~
“The cattle cycle has, since the mid-1800s, been fairly predictable. Every eight years the trend reverses, usually driven by total herd numbers and ultimately, their corresponding market prices. Right now, we’re just about to the end of the latest eight-year period during which the U.S. herd has fallen by almost 4 million, or 11%. There are fewer calves out there, but female slaughter’s already started to decline, a surefire sign that herd expansion is on its way back. And why wouldn’t it be? Prices are at record levels. Expanding to capitalize on those prices just makes sense. So, does it all mean the herd is on its way back up?”
Poor man’s analysis: People don’t want to spend the prices they are demanding for beef and they are getting sick of chicken...
Mexicans thrive on chicken, rice and beans which packs quite a punch especially the protein power of beans and fowl at the same meal.
Pork and beef are too expensive for most to eat often.
Our people getting EBT/food stamps should be cooking their own beans (they have plenty of free time) and eating them with chicken.....YUM! with some hot sauce or sriracha. There are lots of Latino semi-fast food places near me to get chicken-beans-rice meals for $5 or so. No waiters.
Commodity prices for cattle have come down 30% since the spring.
We just ordered a full grass fed beef. It will end up costing us 3.48 a pound packaged and ready for pick-up. We won't buy store-bought beef anymore because it tastes "wrong" to us now.
If I see a feral pig when hunting, it will go down. They are a pest here and a pain for farmers. No limit...
So welcome back, baby, to the pork side of town...
Don’t forget the spring blizzard in the Dakotas a couple year back killed over a hundred thousand, mostly cows.
If it is not in the frozen mark down bin at the Commissary, it is rarely bought. The fall back is beef cutlets, 2 will make 2 meals. Ditto for pork.
You are more likely to see meatless spaghetti on the table now. And since I have health conditions, cooking is not a easy chore. We are doing more simple breakfast for dinner than ever before. Good thing only hubby uses milk on his cereal. Because that is as expensive as beef per lb.
IF you’re prone to GOUT, pork is not your friend.
Also arthritis.
Ssshhhhhh! Inflation does not exist!
“You eat dead animals? Isn’t soy good enough for you?
Meat should be reserved for the elite. Sounds like you need some time in the camps so you can learn to appreciate the food allocated to the proles.”
Hey, be careful there, I mean you can’t have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!
Seriously, your thread is reminiscent of The Hunger Games movies!
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