Title: Tucker Carlson on Why They Are Attacking Farmers. Source:
[None] URL Source:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pRRsfnidXNk Published:Feb 7, 2025 Author:Horse Post Date:2025-02-07 07:27:04 by Horse Keywords:None Views:909 Comments:23
1) The cattle numbers are the *lowest* ever - not just since 1961
2) "leaving ranchers to decide between feeding calves or retaining them for breeding" - we feed them in either case. I think you are trying to state that there is a choice of raising them in a feedlot for slaughter or leaving them at pasture for future herd numbers. Not all calves are heifers (female) so at least half of these animals are going to the feedlot regardless
3) You missed the key point - replacement heifer numbers are lower than last year, so no matter what, the total US herd number will be lower next year. Thus, those 'looked-for indicators' aren't even on the horizon
4) Once heifer numbers stabilize, it will be another THREE years before an increase in herd size can be realized
5) The uptick in beef herd steers reaching the consumer will be another, at the barest minimum, four years and two months. This for lower-weight (lower yield) feed-lot/grain-fed beef.
This because: Steers (fixed males) take six to eight months to raise to weaning size, then another three to ten months in a feedlot to reach slaughter weight. Grass-fed/grass-finished need an additional year and a half to three years.
BOTTOM LINE:
Seven years are needed to reverse (and only by the smallest margin) the downward trend in cattle numbers from the day the heifer herd size stabilizes
and...
herd size will decrease until the cost of raising cattle decreases and the number of ranchers increases