Fate of Purebred Breeders
There has been much discussion about consolidation of the beef industry. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back in one minute with some comments from a person who has experienced the trend in another animal production segment.
Will the beef industry become vertically integrated? I can see that development with packers owning lots to feed their cattle or buying cattle from contract feeders. Will this trend be harmful to the beef cattle industry? Max Thornsberry DVM, MBA, and R-Calf USA president and Region VI director believes it definitely will. Dr. Thornsberry speaks from experience gained as a swine veterinarian in southern Missouri. As a young vet in 1977 he was told by a purebred hog breeder not to worry the corporate guys don't want to do the work involved with breeding, raising and feeding pigs. Eight years later the purebred breeder was out of business. Dr. Thornsberry ended his swine veterinary practice and the feeder-pig auctions in the area were gone. Corporate executives found sharecropper types to do the work as they developed their own breeding stock, demanded producers only feed hogs from those genetics, and limited access to corporate packing plants making it problematic to market pigs independently. Two years ago the USDA's Market Reporting Service revealed beef packers obtained more fed cattle from captive supply arrangements than by bids or negotiations. Personally, I think marketing is best served when prices are established by competitive bidding, Will we learn from the experiences of others? I'm Jeff Keane.
