With this unusual weather and the flooding across the country

you are better off growing your own vegetables and meat at least this way you know what is going in it. But when we get our hog ready for processing we take it in and we know what we fed our pig but after it gose to the butcher you may not get the same meat you took them i expected our meat to be lean and tender but what we got was tough and fatty. dose any one know how to tell if your getting the same pig you took in for processing

 

This is so true and it's just the begging. I live in Kansas but i'm not near any of the flooding but we are still getting a lot of rain not able to get into our garden for a week or so.

 

May be time to start pressure canning meats while it's still affordable.

 

Yes it is going to impact livestock prices NE and KS are the #2 and #3 beef producing States behind TX so to think there will be no market impact would not be accurate. Grain is going to be a bigger issue. After flooding there is a lot of sand and debris left in fields. Farm some bottom land and you get tired real fast of the pretty drift wood, tires, and trash that gets randomly deposited around a field and the sand bars that magically appear when the water goes down. Then the sheer amount of equipment that went under water, the newer tractors, combines, and planters sensors and electronics do not like being in water even a little bit. Then there is all of the grain stored in bins that is now contaminated. Read the other day that the USDA is ordering most of it to be destroyed that is a whole lot of $$$ as many of us bin the grain and hold it until prices are good, more so this round because of the Trade war with China. Then there are the number of farm bankruptcies that are going to come about. A lot of farms were/are walking on a razor thin financial line, this is going to push them over the line. Grain prices will go up and there is a entire domino effect from decreases in the supply chain. Kind of like the drought in 2012 drove corn up into the $12-$14 per BU range and that drought mostly only impacted production in IL. MO. IN. yet had a large National impact. Of course it remains to be seen what the final tally is to damaged land, equipment and land and how much livestock will be lost. Not just Beef but Pork and Poultry as well. While it is only a % of National production it is a significant %. Unlike other disasters ones that impact broad swaths of agriculture take 2-3 years to get worked out and everything functioning in something resembling normal. Most people don't understand the time investment in a calf 9 Month Gestation, then at least 18 months to market.

 

Some places will take the time to make sure you get what you brought, but not everywhere. You may have to specifically ask, or you may need to find a different butcher...but is it possible your stock was tough and fatty?

 

I was talking with a farmer that I know the other day and the subject of the Mid-West flooding came up. He said that, "He was going to plant all grains this year" and this is a guy that has a brand-new John Deere cotton picker in the shed.

 

Fox News said that all this flooding would cause gas prices to raise,

 

Never let the smallest of weather problems go to waste, Jack the prices up and make the public pay!!!
A'merica

 

Possibly, with all of the ethanol be shoved into gasoline...but that's a farce of a different color

 

Gasoline always goes up in the summertime,Every year.

 

Just finished rebuilding a tiller engine that the previous owner ran ethanol gas in. Totally amazed at the amount of pitting on the piston head, the ring had more cracks than a dropped egg and the sheer amount of carbon build up. Tiller is only 3 years old. You can still get ethanol free Gas and Bio Free Diesel it cost more but is well worth it considering the money saved on engine wear and tear. Tried running bio diesel in the Dodge and got around 28% less HP on the dyno than Regular Diesel and the MPG dropped considerably........... Sure don't see where there is any savings to be had with the Bio Gas or Diesel.

Cough My hay field/pasture is going to disappear for 2 years and go into beans this year and corn next year. Only 160 acres but hey there will be some extra cash to be had

 

The biggest problem with using ethanol gas is leaving the fuel in the fuel system for prolonged periods of time when the machine is not being used. Some fuel additive during periods of use, and draining/flushing with 100% gas at the end of the season would solve most, if not all, problems. A few ounces of additive and several ounces of pure gas is much cheaper that going the pure gas route.

 

Got to debate this one a bit as MOST places go out of their way to make sure you get back what you brought in. I help out off loading and breaking carcasses down at a plant when they are short handed or swamped and it is nearly impossible to get animals mixed up. Also there is nothing to be gained and a lot to lose by swapping animals. What I do see at the 3 plants I use A LOT is people making the claim they did not get back what they brought in. Truth is 99.99% of those folks bring in a crap hog but believe it is a prime specimen of porcine perfection. Will stand there as you are off loading it, tagging it and moving it to the holding paddock how great their hog is. (I just keep my mouth shut cause it ain't my problem). Then when they get their 85 pound hanging weight ball of gristle back. The ladies in the office get to deal with the.......... "YOU CHEATED ME AND KEPT MY HOG AND GAVE ME GARBAGE BACK!!!" Yet I unloaded the hog and tagged, moved the hog to the kill floor while skinner/gutter did his thing washed it and put the tendon tag on, then push it on the rail into the hanging cooler, and then out the other side when it is chilled to break it down with the same tendon tag still on it. The cutters look at that tag and pull the cut order and cut grind cure to specs package it box it and print of a tag with the same info as the tendon tag for each box and package. Then move all of those boxes to the freezer together (With the exception of anything being cured) Then the customer returns to pick it up and the box with their identifying tags are rolled out. Which is when the bitching starts because they just knew their 150 pound on the hoof hog was going to have a 240 pound hanging weight and when it was all said and done their packaged finished product weighed in at 55-65 pounds after boning.

That being said there are plants that will rip you off in a heart beat but it usually by stealing 15%-25% of your meat to sell out of their own shop. Very few of those stay in business more than a couple of years as assholes like me complain to the dept of meat and poultry inspection and it triggers a processing records audit for the plant. IF wrong doing is discovered in that audit it usually cost the plant its license or some very hefty fines or both. But the places that rip folks off are the rare exception and not the rule.

That being said on a rare occasion tag will get mixed up and that is almost always caught before the break down as we check the hanging weight on the tag and the hanging weight on the hook at the breakdown station if it is more than a couple of pounds different than the tag, it is a safe bet that the one on the hook behind it is the hog that belongs to that tag and the two tags got mixed up before going into the hanging cooler. And yep we probably have once or twice given the wrong hog to the wrong person over the last 30 years, at the end of the day we are only human and mistakes can and WILL happen, but we do everything possible to make sure they don't. I have sent give or take 12,000 head of hogs over the years through the same 3 plants and have yet to find anything to complain about but when I bring hogs in they only process my hogs for 10 days straight so zero chance of getting the wrong animals back.

 

My Parents own and operated a small processing plant 40 years ago and you would be surprised at the tales that I have heard. The people that want their steer to be all steaks, The people that don't understand the difference between live-weight and finished-weight. And my favorite, the time some guy killed a tame deer with a pistol shot to the head a brought it in for processing...we had the sheriff, game warden, and the meat inspector on hand that time. I could go on and on with tales about the deer hunters.

 

Some markets here cheat the system soaking the meat with water to false weight .
When you go to cook it lots of water is running out and steaming up the kitchen and the meat really shrinks .
I have done comparison studies on the and know the difference when it it not soaked in water .

 

But, But, That's against the Law!

But, But, That's against the Law!

 

SO TRUE , SEEN that also ..
We do OUR OWN processing
Sloth

 

I'm glad you looked this up, I was about to blast this post for looking at and following mainstream media without pulling the facts. WAKE UP! you are still letting mainstream media manipulate you into thinking there is a crisis. It's not that we did not lose some farm land, crops and animals but the severity of the loss is small in the overall scheme of the nation or event the world. Thank you @Seepalaces for having a brain and bringing it to the forum!

 

And some producers EDITED EDITED EDITED to critters a week before taking butcher hogs in that people buy as whole hogs for custom processing. Can add 50 pounds to the hanging weight with the additional EDITED EDITED and EDITED from the EDITED. Ups the price of the hog considerably when you charge by hanging weight. The sad thing is it only takes a few using the dirty tricks to give all of us in this business a bad rap, because all of the attention is given to those few and little to no attention to all of us playing fair and not ripping folks off.