Kubota forcing dealers out?

[MossRoad]

I agree.

And all this arguing good or bad, high or low prices all depends on whether a person so buying or selling, receiving services or performing services, etc. and also depends on location, urban, sub-urban, or rural as to the number of competitors, if any, to choose from.

Just like the so-called "rate of inflation". It all depends on a persons individual life style and location. The same rate does not apply to everyone.

You agree based on what examples? I can't find any anti-trust cases that have affected me since the phone company break up. I'd like to see some examples.

 

[radios1]

Just because you pay $6/lb in the store doesn't mean the farmer gets that money.

I just sold a 900lb Angus steer for .82/lb.

I also sold some full cows. One cow sold for .30/lb & the other 2 sold for .15/lb. Failing dairies across the the country due to low milk prices are killing the prices for older/larger cattle.

I knew it was someone else making most of the profit, and raising the price too high!.. I never said it was the farmers!..

 

[Timm250]

I knew it was someone else making most of the profit, and raising the price too high!.. I never said it was the farmers!..

I sold a total of 12 head & the commission for the sale barn averaged $25+/head.

 

[RickB]

I sold a total of 12 head & the commission for the sale barn averaged $25+/head.

And your point is?

 

[Timm250]

And your point is?

The sale barn made as much on them as I did.

 

[RickB]

T

The sale barn made as much on them as I did.

And those are peanuts compared to what the packer and retailer made. If you think sales commissions are your biggest problem you need to look at the big picture a little closer.

 

[LouNY]

Just because you pay $6/lb in the store doesn't mean the farmer gets that money.

I just sold a 900lb Angus steer for .82/lb.

I also sold some full cows. One cow sold for .30/lb & the other 2 sold for .15/lb. Failing dairies across the the country due to low milk prices are killing the prices for older/larger cattle.

Yes, beef prices for live animals are certainly down. And a lot is because of the dairies selling off but it not just the smaller failing ones. That dairy that used to be 30,000 cows is now over 50,000 milking cows, using sexed semen to get an 80% heifer calf crop for replacement animals as most of their cows don't last over 4 years of production. There are actually more cows being milked now then 10 years ago and producing more milk per lactation, resulting in more cull animals.

Also to add to the prices small scale beef producers are paying between $0.80 to almost $2.00 per pound for killing,cutting and wrapping. If you want to sell by the pound it has to go through a USDA inspected slaughter house which for small operations adds a lot of cost to them as the slaughter house has to pay for the inspector to be on site. Selling halfs or whole hanging beef can be "just" state inspected which around here reduces the cost quite a bit but also reduces the number of customers for your beef. As they have to be able to pay for and handle that much beef at one time.

 

[jmc]

Farmers' low income due to 'Big Inputs' and 'Big Processing' is already becoming a 2020 campaign issue. Politicians must be conflicted about which side to pander to.

 

[RickB]

When there is a lot of food there are many problems. When food is scarce there is only one problem.

 

[EKlee]

Amazon will be sliced into smaller pieces before a lot of other companies will even be looked at for monopolistic. That may or may not even happen with Amazon. Some dealers probably sell through Amazon now if they're allowed. Everything has become volume oriented. Eradicating the little guys will end soon, when there are no small dealers. Still, the guy who is able to get parts either on the grey market or though some back door distribution, will be able to make money servicing equipment, so long as it can be serviced with hand tools. The scary part is that the big equipment companies (at least in my business) make everything with a predetermined life span, which electronically requires replacement at a known interval. Then, their are no sub assembly level parts made available for certain components. You have to buy the "whole large section" just because a little widget goes bad. Its all about what the manufactures say is efficiency. It really has to do with the mechanism that makes the capitalism we love work. Unfortunately, that is greed. Welcome to the big game, even if you can't afford a place at the table.

I sure can't, but I am still playing among giants with an under 500,000 a year business where most of my competitors are 5 million if their little and 350 million if their serious players. Ironically, our local 376,000,000 competitor was recently bought out by Staples. Enough on this topic, but watching good businesses evaporate has been an every month occurence in my life, for a long long time. Aren't the small farmers going away to a large degree also? How can you compete with farms that can put out many multiples of agriculture at lower costs per bushel or bale or acre. We all have to find our niche or work for the big guys. I buy houses whenever I can add one, so I rent them out for income. That is my best retirement plan.