You know, having been a self employed butcher, most of my life, I have seen first hand the fluctuations in meat prices, mostly driven by the value of our dollar, which in turn, drives exports.

Now exports are what determines our domestic meat prices, as essentially, we eat what we don't export.

Unfortunately this gets taken the wrong way as many think we export the best, and eat the rest, but that's simply not true.

Most cattle are sold as 'live weight' and, this price can fluctuate Week to week, month to month and so on.

I have seen cattle prices go from 200cents, back to as low as 49 cents in the space of ten months. (1995-6)

I am out of touch right now, but I think they are at about the 200 cent mark again.

So, farmers were getting this twenty years ago, which means thier cattle sold for the same dollars then, as they do today, yet their expenses have increased ten fold.

By rights our beef farmers should be getting around 350 cents by now, which would mean mince should sell for $20 kg and rump steak about $45.

Now assuming this trend continues, and it should, as Argintina and Brazil are the next generation of global beef suppliers, can our farmers continue to provide us with affordable meat, given that our export market is likely to contract over the next decade.

Now of you talk to any beef farmer today, expenses are the number one concern.

Hi rehctub, can’t wait to see what the vegans come up with in response?

I don’t think the beef business is that much different to most commercial enterprises. All the same factors apply but some definitely have higher weighting for say beef production.

As we have seen recently with live exports, regulation can and does impact on markets, volume sales and pricing. Beef production however, cannot put market ready product back on the shelf as with say consumer hard goods.

This I suspect, is why input costs become even more critical for beef producers, the regulators screw your markets, your markets screw your margins and your margins get devoured by your non discretionary expenses.

The answer is to eat more bureaucratic regulators, sharks, whales, kangaroos, and polar bears. As for me, I just call my son in law and ask when I can get another half a beast off him?

Spindoc says, "as for me, I just call my son in law and ask when I can get another half a beast off him?". Not for much longer spindoc.

The carbon tax will make running that freezer far too expensive for us mere mortals. The best Julia & the greens are going to leave us with will be an old Kalgoorlie meat safe, & that won't keep your meat very long.

I think the same formula works with most fresh food today Rehctub. When I was a kid it was usual for most families to spend about 30% of their income on basic foods.

The days of replacing the ute by selling 10 good bullocks are long gone. In the Maryborough, Bundaberg area I watch tens of thousands of acres going back from grazing country to garbage scrub 20/30 years ago.

The kids didn't want the farm, the farmer was getting too old to keep the regrowth at bay single handed, & the land could not produce enough income for him to pay for the work to be done.

The same thing was happening to the orchards. They could not compete with the imports, with our costs, & were getting bulldozed to save the cost of insecticides.

It's a strange world we live in today.

hi clubman..we been over this before..but lets try again[things will soon be changing]..you sell meat..someone grows it..i eat it

how do i get your need to match my need
[my big limitation is meat is too nexpensive
and to eat it you need life living on it to die

there has to be a better way...and there is..but first start thinking

gods law id though shalt not murder
but murded meat tates SOOOOOO.good..surely if its good its of god

but it cant be..cause it violates law one[murder]

and vegans love this tell i tell them they murder thousands of LIVING seeds for their 'soy/milk'[yuck]..you know each LIVING seed had to die..!

[only god can give a seed life]

that the amason..is being made into desert JUST for soy[AT LEAST we meat eaters share the guilt[can 'pretend god is pleased by murdering 'kosha'[ITS NOT..its murder*]

this clearing of the amasion thing[cows next come there..and the vegans ommit the middle step between clearing for soy..to eventual further dradation..via meat[cattle]

so the cure is so attend our beasts
that the people KNOW..the beast is loved kept heathy..live its life as a cow..TILL THE SECOND IT DIES[then its meat]..proper kosha meat cause we didnt kill it..in fact loved it treasured it..till god says come..you have been only a cow upuntill now

now watch just as a beast become meat
recall the thomoas scripture..more blessed the lion who become man[by man eating him]KNOWING he lived the best lion life he could]..than the man b e blessed[vursed]..by lion eating man

but heck if meat is meat
i just want sorboline green
if its two buckks or less..and know the meat in it was suitable preserved..the second god said its time..[thou shalt not murder/nor adulterate gods law]serving other...[so god dont have to do it all]

Rechub, is the problem grain fed cattle ?
I don't see that we will be able to continue the fertilisation and
production of grain to feed to cattle to produce meat.
Seems to me that it is a rather inefficient way to produce meat.
It looks to be very energy dense way of doing it.

Is it not better to let the cattle roam the paddock and feed themselves ?

We produce plenty, much more than we can eat.
So what is affordable? if we can not afford it maybe it is because others are willing to pay more.
Market forces.

butcher can you tell me about the terrible overheads and all staff being cuunts (Just for Ms Scutt) and how the government is killing small business and how you're doing us all a favour and how you're the backbone of the country again?

You're the grumpiest butcher in the world. So put-upon by everyone, all hampering you at every turn in your magnanimous decision to run a business.

Bazz, lot feeding cattle is here to stay.

There are several reasons for this, less mustering, less land less turnaround time.

With prime farmland being simp,y too expensive now, unless one inherits, or, is a multi conglomerate, forget it.

Belly, the export market is more of a worry when it stops, as it floods the local market with more meat than it can Handle.

Hallie, nice rant, love you too.

May I suggest you speak with almost anyone in business today, they will all tell a similar story.

As for all staff being ......, sorry, that has never been my opinion.

i agree feedloting with grain..is expensive/but as i hear it..SPROUTED grain..is great to eat..[one ton of grain reportedly goes into ten ton of fodder]

i see feedlots in high rises[methane harvesting aqua culture etc]
just in old ofice space..[change a few fluero's]..put in some guttering..you got hydro..greenhouse[like litle farmlets..where 'the farmer'..lives on and runs the whole floor[or building]

but first we need to let some of these castles in the shies owners go bust..then in time grown locally will simply be as glose as next door[of course perma culture will be practiced plus aquaculture]

sort of like they come home to become meat
made healthier than they ever been..till they pass on naturally[my experiments show treating old chickens with apple cider viniger in their water softens up tough flesh[that calcifies with age..by carefull loving attention the old meat can be made easy eating..

but i used to love them old bull tbone for 199 kg
the tougher the better[but just think if road kill was harvested..like they medevaced wounded out of war zones..same thing but for our beastly brothers..the best life then the highest honbour

if you grock?

HB ...I think the same formula works with most fresh food today Rehctub. When I was a kid it was usual for most families to spend about 30% of their income on basic foods.

Basic foods is the answer. Nowadays I would suggest less than 30% of ones grocery spend would be on basic foods, with the remainder being spent on pre made or processed foods.

My wife comes home with a $4 pack of spuds, par cooked in sauce, yet we could buy 3 kg of plain spuds for the same money.

As for food prices in general, I am of the opinion they are still cheap, when comparing to most other necessities, like power, fuel etc.

In reality, we should be paying a lot more if food had kept pace with these, it's just that food can be substituted with other foods, or cheaper imports.

My fear is that we will come to a point where we loose too many farmers and will have little option than to rely on imports, in fact, that's already happening, however,

Current reports that we are becoming net importers of food are somewhat distorted in my view, as one reason for this is that a large portion of what we produce is exclusively for export.

Our isolation may well effect this moving forward.

Farming is fast becoming to risky an investment for many, mainly due to outlays, without guaranteed returns.

HB has you down to pat Rechtub, you must be the only butch in this country who never smiles.
You can tell a butcher in the street his smile is a lane wide.
His right thumb is much wider than the other ,pressing down the scales.
He has a joke for you, new one every day,and an extra snag for his favorite Lady's.
Really think no one is farming?
Thought one local bloke was using road kill in his pies, the Grey fur started me thinking.

In the late 80's I was getting 240 cents/kilo for grassfed 2 year olds, direct to Wingham abattoir. I don't remember beef in the butcher shop being excessively expensive.
How much have retail meat prices risen in the last 20 odd years, when on the hoof prices have dropped?
Some people have managed to do pretty well, haven't they?

Grim I see your point, but who do you think is making the money.

It sure isn't the farmer.

It can't be the processor, too many of them are going broke for it to all be bad management.

It can't be the butcher shop, too many of them are closing, for it to be a really high profit business.

I could upset belly, & say it is the meat workers, with all their strikes, but they don't look all that rich.

The distribution system costs a fortune today, & adds much cost

The big 2 grocery chains probably are a little of the cause, but like the cause of the high cost of housing, I think it's the bureaucracy & government at fault.

So many costly regulations, with banks of bureaucrats adding costs at every turn, be it land management, transport, wholesale or retail regulations, & the tax man, [or actually lady today], wanting more at every turn.

No wonder it is becoming the norm to find people sharing farm kill where ever they can.

For any agricultural system to be sustainable
it also needs to be adaptable and be prepared
for change. Some management practices that were
developed decades ago - might be out of date
today. Therefore it would surely be useful to
actively seek, interpret and use advice and
new information and have flexible management strategies
to meet variations in climate and markets.