kipps - 12/7/2018 15:25
dabeegmon - 12/7/2018 14:08
...last is going to be beef and they've started on that one already....
Dairy and beef tracked together for many years
(into the late 80's
), both avoiding mushrooming numbers, unlike hogs, turkeys, and chickens. The reason given was both were pasture based, and thus couldn't scale. Dairy left pasture in mass, and consolidation went through the roof. Cow-calf operations are still pasture based, and would be very hard to scale. I don't see it leaving the area anytime soon. The only way it could, would be if the beef processors simply stop buying any cattle that they did not dictate the genetics and management thereof. But as long as anybody can sell to the finishers or processors on the open market, I don't see things changing.