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Beef Prices


rafterbr

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Many of you have commented on the high beef prices at Costco and other places but probably don't know why.  On 4 August the largest beef processing facility in the United States caught fire and has been closed ever since.  The Tyson owned facility had 3,500 workers and processed 6,000 head of cattle a day.  This was 6% of the total beef processed in the states.   Feedlots in the area had no place to send their ready to butcher cattle and the other meat processing plants raised their prices for processed beef to the market.  The feed lots took a big hit and lost much money as they had to ship the cattle mainly out of state and the processing plants started paying less money for the feedlot cattle because of the over supply.  The feed lots had to pay less for the cattle they bought from ranchers like me so we took a bad hit.  I have sold my calves for as high as $1,500 each, now I am getting around $600.  The Meat processing plants are making a tremendous profit at the moment and Tyson has other plants making a good profit so they are in no hurry to rebuild the one in Kansas. So if you see a gringo walking around Ajijic with a tin cup in his hand, its me! 

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1 minute ago, bmh said:

just do not buy beef and the prices wll go down.. 

Amen bmh. Cut the demand and the sellers will have to lower their prices or be stuck with a whole lot of beef and fewer buyers. Supply and demand works...over the long run. There are times when both buyers and sellers get better deals than is average. Still better than when the gummint sets the prices.

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I guess you are referring to the fire at the IBP plant in Garden City, KS.  The mother and daughter that work at GO Lab and Farmacia Maskaras in Riberas, worked there but had to come back to Mexico after the fire, which was several months ago.  IBP (owned by Tyson) has many plants scattered around the midwest...IA , NE, KS, CO, TX, Etc., so I´m sure they will facilitate the business sooner or later as they control the meat packing industry.

I thought their biggest operation was Dakota City, NE,  just outside of Sioux City, IA.   I knew them well when I lived and worked in the US.

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2 hours ago, slainte39 said:

I guess you are referring to the fire at the IBP plant in Garden City, KS.  The mother and daughter that work at GO Lab and Farmacia Maskaras in Riberas, worked there but had to come back to Mexico after the fire, which was several months ago.  IBP (owned by Tyson) has many plants scattered around the midwest...IA , NE, KS, CO, TX, Etc., so I´m sure they will facilitate the business sooner or later as they control the meat packing industry.

I thought their biggest operation was Dakota City, NE,  just outside of Sioux City, IA.   I knew them well when I lived and worked in the US.

I think we are referring to the same fire.  The fire was at Holcomb , Kansas which I believe is near Garden City.  This plant is the largest in the states.  You are right, they have other plants in several states which is making them much money since they are using the Holcomb facility as an excuse to raise prices to the consumer.  At the same time they have cut prices they pay for the cattle.  It is a win, win for them.  I don't see them in a big hurry to rebuild as a result.  There other plants can absorb the extra cattle so there is no big loss in processing capability.  There needs to be a congressional investigation but they are to big and powerful for this.

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It has been a good, wet rainy season, and the grass and weeds are growing well. In  Chapala Haciendas, at least in the southern forest edge, farmers let their animals free range in the neighborhood. Not everyone is happy about this, especially the one who just planted new plants around his new house, he threw a stick towards them, the noise caused the six horses to stampede - scaring the heck out of us city slickers. This week has seen a regular parade of a herd of fifteen goats, horses, one burro and yesterday, three cows. I bring this up because all these animals are well fed and bristling with good health. Mexico beef farmers, like our gardener, typically sell the calves to U.S. feedlots where they are so overcrowded that they have to have constant. medical treatment and possibly growth hormones. Mexico can easily become a self provider of beef. What is lacking is processing skill, particular aging. Chilling rooms with a commercial chiller can cost up to $20,000 dollars. A new technology can change all that, as well as those on the coasts who want to sleep with AC on all night. It is called " coolbot" and what is to fool a residential AC to run at much lower temperatures without icing up. A 120 volt new AC for $150, and the coolbot, about $500, can keep an 8 by 10 well insulated room, from 50 to 60 degrees all night long, for a very low electricity use. I don't know the temps required for meat aging, but their website gives details. I read about this in relation to collective farmers in Cambodia, with a combination of net houses to grow bug free, pesticide free, and a system of coolbot chilling rooms, they could ship time sensitive fruits and vegetable to far distant markets and were able to introduce exotic local produce which wholesalers were previously reluctant to handle (too fragile, spoilage, etc.). Sorry this is a long post, it is either something you are interested in or not.

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43 minutes ago, CHILLIN said:

It has been a good, wet rainy season, and the grass and weeds are growing well. In  Chapala Haciendas, at least in the southern forest edge, farmers let their animals free range in the neighborhood. Not everyone is happy about this, especially the one who just planted new plants around his new house, he threw a stick towards them, the noise caused the six horses to stampede - scaring the heck out of us city slickers. This week has seen a regular parade of a herd of fifteen goats, horses, one burro and yesterday, three cows. I bring this up because all these animals are well fed and bristling with good health. Mexico beef farmers, like our gardener, typically sell the calves to U.S. feedlots where they are so overcrowded that they have to have constant. medical treatment and possibly growth hormones. Mexico can easily become a self provider of beef. What is lacking is processing skill, particular aging. Chilling rooms with a commercial chiller can cost up to $20,000 dollars. A new technology can change all that, as well as those on the coasts who want to sleep with AC on all night. It is called " coolbot" and what is to fool a residential AC to run at much lower temperatures without icing up. A 120 volt new AC for $150, and the coolbot, about $500, can keep an 8 by 10 well insulated room, from 50 to 60 degrees all night long, for a very low electricity use. I don't know the temps required for meat aging, but their website gives details. I read about this in relation to collective farmers in Cambodia, with a combination of net houses to grow bug free, pesticide free, and a system of coolbot chilling rooms, they could ship time sensitive fruits and vegetable to far distant markets and were able to introduce exotic local produce which wholesalers were previously reluctant to handle (too fragile, spoilage, etc.). Sorry this is a long post, it is either something you are interested in or not.

Most beef in the US is now “wet aged” in cryovac bags. A far cry from dry aging where the beefs enzymes tenderize the meat and give it its slightly gamey taste. 

SuKarne, a large Mexican producer of boxed beef, pork and chicken provides meat similar to US produced beef, but cuts and fat content remain different. 

They actually have a reasonable flat cut brisket that I use for corned beef, pastrami and smoking. 
 

 

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2 hours ago, zerbit said:

Most beef in the US is now “wet aged” in cryovac bags. A far cry from dry aging where the beefs enzymes tenderize the meat and give it its slightly gamey taste. 

SuKarne, a large Mexican producer of boxed beef, pork and chicken provides meat similar to US produced beef, but cuts and fat content remain different. 

They actually have a reasonable flat cut brisket that I use for corned beef, pastrami and smoking. 
 

 

Do you sell your corned beef and if so do you leave the fat on it?

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On ‎11‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 10:28 AM, CHILLIN said:

It has been a good, wet rainy season, and the grass and weeds are growing well. In  Chapala Haciendas, at least in the southern forest edge, farmers let their animals free range in the neighborhood. Not everyone is happy about this, especially the one who just planted new plants around his new house, he threw a stick towards them, the noise caused the six horses to stampede - scaring the heck out of us city slickers. This week has seen a regular parade of a herd of fifteen goats, horses, one burro and yesterday, three cows. I bring this up because all these animals are well fed and bristling with good health. Mexico beef farmers, like our gardener, typically sell the calves to U.S. feedlots where they are so overcrowded that they have to have constant. medical treatment and possibly growth hormones. Mexico can easily become a self provider of beef. What is lacking is processing skill, particular aging. Chilling rooms with a commercial chiller can cost up to $20,000 dollars. A new technology can change all that, as well as those on the coasts who want to sleep with AC on all night. It is called " coolbot" and what is to fool a residential AC to run at much lower temperatures without icing up. A 120 volt new AC for $150, and the coolbot, about $500, can keep an 8 by 10 well insulated room, from 50 to 60 degrees all night long, for a very low electricity use. I don't know the temps required for meat aging, but their website gives details. I read about this in relation to collective farmers in Cambodia, with a combination of net houses to grow bug free, pesticide free, and a system of coolbot chilling rooms, they could ship time sensitive fruits and vegetable to far distant markets and were able to introduce exotic local produce which wholesalers were previously reluctant to handle (too fragile, spoilage, etc.). Sorry this is a long post, it is either something you are interested in or not.

 Chillin; We did something similar at a wilderness camp I ran for 15 years. We just insulated a room off the kitchen, about 10 x 10 ft. cut a hole in the exterior wall and inserted a cheap air conditioner. No coolbot necessary. It worked like a charm to give us a cold room. Now one can purchase a temperature regulator on Amazon for 32 USD which simplifies the task.  

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On 11/1/2019 at 11:16 AM, zerbit said:

Most beef in the US is now “wet aged” in cryovac bags. A far cry from dry aging where the beefs enzymes tenderize the meat and give it its slightly gamey taste. 

SuKarne, a large Mexican producer of boxed beef, pork and chicken provides meat similar to US produced beef, but cuts and fat content remain different. 

They actually have a reasonable flat cut brisket that I use for corned beef, pastrami and smoking. 
 

 

Do they leave enough fat of the pecha to use it for good corned beef or smoked brisket? At Abastos they like to peel all that cap off?

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3 hours ago, geeser said:

Do they leave enough fat of the pecha to use it for good corned beef or smoked brisket? At Abastos they like to peel all that cap off?

They leave 1/4” - 1/2”  trim. Not bad, enough fat for smoking and slow cooking. Not much in the way of marbling though. 

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On ‎10‎/‎31‎/‎2019 at 7:53 PM, rafterbr said:

I think we are referring to the same fire.  The fire was at Holcomb , Kansas which I believe is near Garden City.  This plant is the largest in the states.  You are right, they have other plants in several states which is making them much money since they are using the Holcomb facility as an excuse to raise prices to the consumer.  At the same time they have cut prices they pay for the cattle.  It is a win, win for them.  I don't see them in a big hurry to rebuild as a result.  There other plants can absorb the extra cattle so there is no big loss in processing capability.  There needs to be a congressional investigation but they are to big and powerful for this.

I just heard there was a big explosion of some kind at the big Cargill plant in Dodge City, KS, about 45 min. away, shutting down that plant which will add to the problem.

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5 minutes ago, happyjillin said:

I have not seen him for a while and he wasn't well then.

Thanks, sad. He bought the house in Riberas from us way back in maybe 2004? The closing was "interesting" with both buyer and seller having the Smith name. Paperwork had to be completely redone, lol.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Mt dad was the head of the meat department in a chain of grocery stores in New England. We always had the best meat, despite my mother's terrible cooking. 

I remember my father bringing home big pieces of beef and letting them age in our cold-ish basement, prior to the holidays. I was always concerned about the meat going bad, but he explained to me how the ideal temperature kept it "safe" and the enzyme activity created very tender meat. Sometimes we look back and realize just how much we learned from our parents--my dad taught me a lot about handling knives and how to cut, carve, and cook meat correctly..

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On 11/3/2019 at 2:02 PM, happyjillin said:

Darn! I have not had good corned beef since Smitty and Rick stopped selling it.

Next time you are in Costco look in the specialty cases in front of the meat, roasted chicken area. They sell a two pack of good sliced corned beef usually on the top shelf on your left, we open one package and freeze the other. These cases have specialty cheese and packaged refrigerated foods. Add that to some of the rye or pumpernickel bread from Superlake and you are on you way to some good eating.  

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