I think we need to have more animal agriculture in this state. We raise the best cattle in the world, we raise the best corn in the world, we raise the best soybeans, and we need to be feeding those cattle here instead of sending them out. That’s a frustration that a lot of us have is why aren’t we feeding more of the cattle instead of shipping them out [Rep. Lee Qualm, audio transcribed from “SD Legislators Can’t Offer Much Help to Ag Producers,” WNAX, 2018.01.04].
Qualm also says we should have “South Dakota-branded cattle”:
Ultimately I would love to see us have South Dakota-branded cattle. We’ve got the packing plant in Aberdeen, we’ve got the cattle here, why not work toward that end? Don’t know exactly how to do that, but there are some of us that are having a discussion, maybe we could do something like that [Qualm, WNAX, 2018.01.04].
The four big beef packers control 80% of the market. They have no interest or incentive in allowing some upstart, no matter how they brand their product, to cut into their share.
jerry
2018-01-05 09:51
Qualm states “We raise the best cattle in the world”. That should be stricken from his statement with this. “We have the best hard grass in the world”. If the state of South Dakota really cared about producers, instead of being in the pocket of the cabal of 4 packers, they would work hard to market the sales of hard grass fed beef to readily available consumers. Like Mickelson, Qualm is full of hot bovine flatulence, just sounding foolish. https://foodrevolution.org/blog/the-truth-about-grassfed-beef/
There is a huge market for these cattle and if producers would stop breaking the ground for the crooked dealings of failed wheat production, and go back to prairie grass, they would have a viable sell-able product. When they start to figure that out, they will find that the water quality on their holdings will improve, their stock dams will not silt up, wildlife and game birds will return for a win win for the state and producers. Instead of polluting the air, ground and water with holding pens for the big 4 and China, help make markets available to ship South Dakota hard grass fed beef around the country and world.
Kathy Tyler
2018-01-05 12:48
THANK YOU, Jerry!! Very well said.
Bob Newland
2018-01-05 12:58
This is a commercial message. My son-in-law and daughter contract with purchasers for extremely reasonable organic pork and beef, raised on pasture in southeastern Montana, processed to your specs in Newell and Vale SoDak. I have regularly purchased both from them for over ten years. Interested? newland@rapidcity.com
Debbie
2018-01-05 19:33
Must have been reading Montana news since they have a new contract to build a maga processing plant. Day late and a dollar short . Real politicians are needed
Newland, keep those commercial messages for quality beef coming.
Kathy’s right: Jerry hits on a key point. The beef that distinguishes itself in the marketplace and wins a premium price is grass-fed beef. Qualm’s comments show he has no vision of that part of the market. He talks about corn and beans as feed for cattle. He envisions crowding more beef onto more feedlots, where they’ll be pumped full of antibiotics and come out tasting just like the beef from feedlots anywhere else in the country. A South Dakota brand on such standardized beef would be meaningless.
The four big beef packers control 80% of the market. They have no interest or incentive in allowing some upstart, no matter how they brand their product, to cut into their share.
Qualm states “We raise the best cattle in the world”. That should be stricken from his statement with this. “We have the best hard grass in the world”. If the state of South Dakota really cared about producers, instead of being in the pocket of the cabal of 4 packers, they would work hard to market the sales of hard grass fed beef to readily available consumers. Like Mickelson, Qualm is full of hot bovine flatulence, just sounding foolish. https://foodrevolution.org/blog/the-truth-about-grassfed-beef/
There is a huge market for these cattle and if producers would stop breaking the ground for the crooked dealings of failed wheat production, and go back to prairie grass, they would have a viable sell-able product. When they start to figure that out, they will find that the water quality on their holdings will improve, their stock dams will not silt up, wildlife and game birds will return for a win win for the state and producers. Instead of polluting the air, ground and water with holding pens for the big 4 and China, help make markets available to ship South Dakota hard grass fed beef around the country and world.
THANK YOU, Jerry!! Very well said.
This is a commercial message. My son-in-law and daughter contract with purchasers for extremely reasonable organic pork and beef, raised on pasture in southeastern Montana, processed to your specs in Newell and Vale SoDak. I have regularly purchased both from them for over ten years. Interested? newland@rapidcity.com
Must have been reading Montana news since they have a new contract to build a maga processing plant. Day late and a dollar short . Real politicians are needed
Newland, keep those commercial messages for quality beef coming.
Kathy’s right: Jerry hits on a key point. The beef that distinguishes itself in the marketplace and wins a premium price is grass-fed beef. Qualm’s comments show he has no vision of that part of the market. He talks about corn and beans as feed for cattle. He envisions crowding more beef onto more feedlots, where they’ll be pumped full of antibiotics and come out tasting just like the beef from feedlots anywhere else in the country. A South Dakota brand on such standardized beef would be meaningless.