This statistic was quoted from an article published 8/23/2004 regarding the Coalition to Support Iowa's Farmers. I alluded to similar numbers before, which I just gleaned from conversation regarding farmers. Now I have some statistical evidence to back it up.
Also, FYI, I live in Madison County, but Dallas County is just north of me a few miles. Our counties in Iowa are very small. So this is "my neck of the woods."
"The median household income in Dallas County is $48,528. A farmer must sell 1,427 head of 750-pound feeder steers or nearly 6,700 farrow-to-finish hogs annually to equal that income, based on the 10-year average return for each commodity."
Folks, do the math. Even I, math-challenged as I am, can see that it works out to:
1 cow (profit, in 2004)=$34.00
1 pig (profit, in 2004) = $7.25
Firstly, if you have a "feeder steer" that means that you keep the momma cow, and she has a baby. That baby costs you nothing to buy. So here you are with this baby. You feed it until it's fat enough to go to market-- that is usually from the spring until the fall. Your costs are vet bills, any feed you need, the cost of keeping the mother healthy, shots, etc. Secondly, the acreage required to keep those two cattle-- the momma and baby-- is about 2 acres (conservatively) per pair. So you are going to get 1 feeder cow per 2 acres. Which means, for those 1,427 feeder cows, you need to have about 2850 acres on which to graze those cattle. That is a LOT of land.
Never will I complain about the cost of meat again. That is a killer way to make a living, and such a tight margin.
Let's all have steak tonight!!
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1 comment:
Farming is a tough business. It shows you that it doesn't take much to put a farm out of business.
Take Care
Michael
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