US selling Beef. Coal, and Barley to chicomms

[actaeon277]

In a facility that big you guys don't have trikes?

We had one pickup truck to cover the coke plant, somewhere around 4 square miles or so.
But we had 2 shift guys per turn, and something like 10 day shift guys.
I was low man on the totem pole.
Besides, most of the PLCs in the field were easier to leg.
PLCs in the coke batteries, or Pre-Carb units I could drive to.

 

[maxwelhse]

I won’t blame the cattle farmers for selling to China. I can’t afford to buy it any more and they’ve got to recoup their investment somehow.

It's mind boggling to think of how that could even be possible, but here we are.

We had one pickup truck to cover the coke plant, somewhere around 4 square miles or so.
But we had 2 shift guys per turn, and something like 10 day shift guys.
I was low man on the totem pole.
Besides, most of the PLCs in the field were easier to leg.
PLCs in the coke batteries, or Pre-Carb units I could drive to.

I'm talking about human powered 3 wheeled bikes with baskets on them. You guys don't have any of those in an operation that huge? Even carrying a modern laptop, meter, LOTO crap, etc in your hands is annoying.



Man... I'd legitimately offer a small pay cut to get them if you don't have them now. Given my role in the plants I've been in I had all of my gear at my desk... which was usually as far from where I had to go as humanly possible.

 

[actaeon277]

It's mind boggling to think of how that could even be possible, but here we are.



I'm talking about human powered 3 wheeled bikes with baskets on them. You guys don't have any of those in an operation that huge? Even carrying a modern laptop, meter, LOTO crap, etc in your hands is annoying.

View attachment 155669

Man... I'd legitimately offer a small pay cut to get them if you don't have them now. Given my role in the plants I've been in I had all of my gear at my desk... which was usually as far from where I had to go as humanly possible.

I don't think that would work on the terrain.
Also, we have vehicles with 9 foot tall tires and low driver visibility. That would be a death sentence.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

It's mind boggling to think of how that could even be possible, but here we are.



I'm talking about human powered 3 wheeled bikes with baskets on them. You guys don't have any of those in an operation that huge? Even carrying a modern laptop, meter, LOTO crap, etc in your hands is annoying.

View attachment 155669

Man... I'd legitimately offer a small pay cut to get them if you don't have them now. Given my role in the plants I've been in I had all of my gear at my desk... which was usually as far from where I had to go as humanly possible.

When I worked at Allison's here in Indy (now Rolls Royce) we sometimes used little Cushman golf cart kinda things or 3 wheelers to get around in the plant from the engineering department (offices) out to the various floor areas.

 

[maxwelhse]

I don't think that would work on the terrain.
Also, we have vehicles with 9 foot tall tires and low driver visibility. That would be a death sentence.

C'mon man... Add some sport to your day!

Language warning:

When I worked at Allison's here in Indy (now Rolls Royce) we sometimes used little Cushman golf cart kinda things or 3 wheelers to get around in the plant from the engineering department (offices) out to the various floor areas.

Seriously the greatest thing ever. We did have to be pretty careful of not being murdered by forklift drivers though. I can imagine 20 foot tall "forklifts" being a little more challenging. I'll take Act at his word on the terrain too. Most places I've been they epoxied the floors dang near annually. Floor paint and re-roofing activities both never stopped.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

C'mon man... Add some sport to your day!

Language warning:





Seriously the greatest thing ever. We did have to be pretty careful of not being murdered by forklift drivers though. I can imagine 20 foot tall "forklifts" being a little more challenging. I'll take Act at his word on the terrain too. Most places I've been they epoxied the floors dang near annually. Floor paint and re-roofing activities both never stopped.

While at Allison, I had to go bring like 3 banker's boxes worth of documents (heavy) from somewhere out in the plant back up to our office. There wasn't a cart available, and being 19 at the time, I didn't want to wait, so I went and got the boxes and carried them back to our office. I got a talkin' to after that, because apparently it went against some kind of union rule (I was salaried, so not a union employee).

 

[maxwelhse]

While at Allison, I had to go bring like 3 banker's boxes worth of documents (heavy) from somewhere out in the plant back up to our office. There wasn't a cart available, and being 19 at the time, I didn't want to wait, so I went and got the boxes and carried them back to our office. I got a talkin' to after that, because apparently it went against some kind of union rule (I was salaried, so not a union employee).

Things run a lot smoother in any operation when everyone recognizes that to keep the ship moving forward, we all have to grab an oar. Sometimes it doesn't matter if it's your oar or mine. Sometimes a blind eye should probably be turned so the ship doesn't sink.

I've seen people actively do the wrong thing on both sides of the coin and basically screw up everything simply because they could. I don't work at places like that anymore... well, I do, but that's a problem that far exceeds my facility. They screw up things on a global scale.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Things run a lot smoother in any operation when everyone recognizes that to keep the ship moving forward, we all have to grab an oar. Sometimes it doesn't matter if it's your oar or mine. Sometimes a blind eye should probably be turned so the ship doesn't sink.

I've seen people actively do the wrong thing on both sides of the coin and basically screw up everything simply because they could. I don't work at places like that anymore... well, I do, but that's a problem that far exceeds my facility. They screw up things on a global scale.

Wow man. I seem to have harshed your mellow. Or maybe you've harshed mine. I was just tellin' a story about trikes and golf carts and stuff. I didn't mean to go into the union thing very deep. That's just why I got the talkin' to is all.

 

[maxwelhse]

Wow man. I seem to have harshed your mellow. Or maybe you've harshed mine. I was just tellin' a story about trikes and golf carts and stuff. I didn't mean to go into the union thing very deep. That's just why I got the talkin' to is all.

Sorry man... Sore subject.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Sorry man... Sore subject.

No worries! Didn't know. Time to call Saul?

 

[ditcherman]

No worries! Didn't know. Time to call Saul?

You don’t need a criminal lawyer, you need a criminal lawyer.

 

[ditcherman]

Trust me, cattle farmers/ranchers are not seeing an up tick in price due to sales in China. It all goes to the packers

You don’t think Chinas buying commodities affects our prices?

They are a powerhouse and can certainly move markets. The trickle down if they stopped would be huge.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

You don’t think Chinas buying commodities affects our prices?

They are a powerhouse and can certainly move markets. The trickle down if they stopped would be huge.

He is saying the middlemen are making the money, not the ranchers.

 

[ditcherman]

He is saying the middlemen are making the money, not the ranchers.

And I am saying that China’s buying power most certainly does affect our price at the gate, out of the bin, whatever.
Not saying the packers/processors don’t have a lot of control and even coercion.

 

[wagyu52]

 

[wagyu52]

1200lb calf sells for $1525 (July price)
It generates 480lbs of beef for retail sale, in July that was worth $3200 on the shelf.
Difference of $1675

 

[ditcherman]

Ok I’m confused, he opens by saying cattle owners are in the drivers seat, don’t take less than 130. You’re not complaining about 120-130 are you?
A little farther along he talks about the packers making $1000 a head, which seems preposterous, but he’s still very bullish for the operator.
Cattle owners should be in the drivers seat for a while. What they have to give up to the processor, well, that’s usually out of our hands but this guy (in the video) says don’t give em up!

 

[ditcherman]

1200lb calf sells for $1525 (July price)
It generates 480lbs of beef for retail sale, in July that was worth $3200 on the shelf.
Difference of $1675

That’s processor and retailer, I don’t know what normal is, but that’s a lot.

ETA: I still think the original question was do China purchases affect the price, and we can be concerned about how much the packer makes but it still benefits us. Maybe not proportionately…

 

[wagyu52]

Ok I’m confused, he opens by saying cattle owners are in the drivers seat, don’t take less than 130. You’re not complaining about 120-130 are you?
A little farther along he talks about the packers making $1000 a head, which seems preposterous, but he’s still very bullish for the operator.
Cattle owners should be in the drivers seat for a while. What they have to give up to the processor, well, that’s usually out of our hands but this guy (in the video) says don’t give em up!

Yeah! $130 is way cheap for $7 corn.
Only in that the packers are sold short, problem is it’s nearly impossible to “hold” livestock off the market for a better price unlike other commodities.
There is war on against independent cattle producer, control over who “owns” the animal. Hogs and chicken are almost exclusively fed on contract and the owners are the packers, farmers just collect a per head paycheck

 

[ditcherman]

Yeah! $130 is way cheap for $7 corn.
Only in that the packers are sold short, problem is it’s nearly impossible to “hold” livestock off the market for a better price unlike other commodities.
There is war on against independent cattle producer, control over who “owns” the animal. Hogs and chicken are almost exclusively fed on contract and the owners are the packers, farmers just collect a per head paycheck

Oh I get that, we were a 200 sow farrow to finish operation 20 years ago.
I live next door to one of the few independent operator left, with 600 sows.
Dad got out, I bought a ditching machine.
Always hoped cattle would be different.
Now I hope row crops will be different. Shouldn’t hold my breath.