US beef sector, pinched by costs, cuts production:

Consulting firm HedgersEdge.com said U.S. beef companies, on average, are losing about $45 on every head of cattle they slaughter. With daily slaughter ranging from 125,000 to 130,000 head, that equates to losses of $5.6 million to $5.8 million a day for the industry....

Margins are slim "because beef is at a high price and is having a tough time competing with pork and poultry," said [analyst Don Roose at U.S. Commodities Inc.].

Not so stable, not so profitable. Much of this is a temporary market fluctuation, I'm sure, but if you look at the long-term view, it's going to be difficult to keep beef prices stable overall.

Meat prices set to soar as production costs mount: analyst:

Wheat prices reached an unprecedented peak of $7.44 U.S. a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade market last week after climbing steadily for months.

Poor weather in wheat-producing regions of Canada and Europe has contributed to the price increase. In addition, more wheat and oilseed crops are being used to produce biofuels.

"Supply has fallen and at the same time demand has risen," Crane said. "We have obviously more people in the world eating more meat which takes up more of the grain. Interestingly in the last year we've really seen the growth of biofuels — more grain that's being grown is going into the fuel market.

Crane said consumers can expect to see an inflation in food prices comparable to the gradual but steady rise in oil prices.

"At the end of the day food prices will have to rise and in different countries they'll rise at different rates. I think it's a little bit like the way oil prices move and that just moved up a significant level over the last two or three years," Crane said.

This isn't an isolated problem. Our economies are globalized; we're in this together.

But, fair enough. We'll keep the socialists out of power, so long as they get their representational power. It would be good to keep things balanced in an unstable global market. I'm not sure I'd win that steak in 5 years, as I think this is a long-term thing. Maybe give me 10 or 15 years.

I prefer sirloin.

But you do realize in that link you posted, the problem is we are producing MORE beef than there is demand for, hardly a recipe for a disaster down the road price wise.

The original concept was that we wouldn't have enough, but now we have too much.

Well in 20 years global warming will have killed us all or something, so you got a better chance of collecting in 5 :thumbsup:

And while I never was a tenderloin fan, now that I've had steaks expertly prepared, I've switched to that as the 'ideal', though I still love a good t-bone.

Yes, I do realize the capacity issue. But look at the big picture. The land is finite and ethanol for energy is on the horizon. You have many people from Europe, Asia, and especially the Americas immigrating to your country, which will lead to more urban sprawl.

Within 20 years, America's arable land distribution of hectares per capita dropped from 0.83 to 0.64. (As a comparison, Canada's is 1.51 and China's and the U.K.'s is 0.10.) The difference between being a big grain exporter and a necessary big grain importer can be signified by this bit of data. At a time when arable land use is beginning to be used for non-food purposes (e.g. ethanol), this capacity is far more reduced than it seems.

With reduced capacity or possibility for expansion (not to mention rising feed and energy prices), there are fewer low-cost alternatives to market fluctuations. What the first article of my last post pointed out is that meat consumers are going for cheaper forms of meat (i.e. pork and chicken). This reduces the overall demand on beef, which is continuing to hurt the prices and is why you see the need to cut production. As grain prices continue to rise in light of limited overall global capacity and high demand, the cost of producing beef will remain high and will continue to increase out of step with other sources of food.

The cost of beef production is high compared to chicken, which many consumers are turning to (away from beef) not only because of price, but health reasons as well. The questionable demand for beef in addition to the pressures of capacity and the cost of production (i.e. grain and transport) will only put a further squeeze on beef prices.

Who needs beef, when there is Bison meat to be eaten;) The stuff is amazing for you, (better than fish or chicken) and has none of the adverse health effects of regular beef. And it tastes better.

I'll give you healthier but not taste. Fat is a big part of why meat tastes as good as it does. Lean meats often need to have fat added to make them not taste like health food.

Have you had bison?

Taste is subjective. Venison is delicious right-off-the-critter and they're not very fatty either.

Yes wasn't impressed, maybe it was preparation but I've also read that with bison it can be a problem.

True enough.

Dude, I just received some good 'ol homemade venison sausage from the in-laws out West. It came with some pork sausage, too. Damn, I'm low on sauerkraut.

Ustwo, I would guess it was the preparation. One can easily mess up a good cut of beef, even. With bison, I've only had it as a steak once and a burger once, both of which were quite delicious (i.e. better than a lot of beef I've had).

There will always, within our lifetimes, be land that can't be used for grain/corn mass production. Be it the actual landforms that limit the use of modern machine implements, or the indigenous soil that simply can't grow or sustain such crops. As result, there should be production of animals that can use this land; browsers and grazers such as cattle and sheep and bison.

Cattle in a feedlot can be and are fed 'hay' which is the most sustainable natural-grass type large scale crop. Yes, currently most american feedlots use almost entirely corn and grain (and soy), but as demand for such crops are drawn elsewhere, cattle have alternatives and can be raised pasture style on otherwise unproductive land or fed more hay. Chicken and pigs are not as adaptable.

I eat more beef than I really should, and honestly believe that the best in the world is produced locally. I've had my share of bison, also local, which is no more difficult to prepare as long as you acknowledge that you aren't cooking with beef.

bison is delicious

Wow, 3? That's it? Really? Interesting...

As for Michael Crichton... While State of Fear is obviously a fictional work, it is also well referenced throughout. The references are not fictional. Also, if you look at the history of the planet, what's happening now really ISN'T any different than what has happened at regular intervals for as long as we can look back. *shrug*

Frankly, I think GW is bullshit. I also think that eating more meat will not, effectively, cause the temperature to go up. In fact, the Greenhouse Effect itself isn't very well proven. Even GW supporters often admit there is reasonable evidence that greenhouse gases may DECREASE global temperature over time. Hmmm, odd...

What about the ramifications of poorly prepared meat?

Take my mother, she liked her meat WELL done, so guess what I thought was the way it was suppose to taste growing up? I weep to think what she did to so many fine cuts of meat.

*drool*

Does anyone know where I can get venison or bison meat (like sausages or cuts) in southern California (short of hunting which has a lot of restrictions here). Baraka, send me some of those sausages and I will send you some warm and sunny California air.