Recently, I tried a package of Wagyu pre-made ground beef patties. They were priced right so I grilled them up. They were very good. Where did I get them? At Walmart. It wasn’t many years ago one could only buy Select grade beef at Walmart. Reflecting demand for higher-quality beef from customers, now they carry […] Read more
U.S. adds packing plant capacity
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
Dittmer: Skeptical of the unproven
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
I’ve often had to apologize for something inane our politicians or fringe ranchers have been doing down here. But you weren’t supposed to try to catch up. Please tell your politicians to quit trying to outdo our stupidity. It’s unseemly, un-Canadian. I’ve always been appalled at the left’s devotion to dogmas impossible to scientifically, logically […] Read more
Dittmer: Woke and green turns ridiculous
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
In the spring of 2021, we wrote columns for Agribusiness Freedom Foundation chronicling the activist left’s progress in cowing major U.S. corporations into “woke” philosophies, including those on animal welfare, green climate change theology, apologies for so-called racist pasts, offending gender identities and lots of irrelevant or downright obstructive actions, to corporations making money. With […] Read more
Dittmer: Dodging government interference and processing facts
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
Two bills, one that would insert federal government agencies into the cattle marketing business and one that would create a Special Investigators unit within USDA, have been voted out of committee in the U.S. Senate. Both bills were opposed by National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and many free-market-oriented cattle producers, especially those participating in branded, differentiated […] Read more
Dittmer: Congressional hearings reveal little and much
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
With the Biden administration drowning in bad poll results from bad policies, this is a bad time to be in its crosshairs. Both the House and Senate held beef industry hearings in April. The Senate “examined” the Fischer-Grassley bill seeking to mandate regional minimums on negotiated cash trade. They also referenced another bill calling for […] Read more
Dittmer: Marketing and production challenges
I understand there has been talk of interprovincial inspection and beef sales in Canada. There has been talk and legislation introduced to allow interstate meat sales down here but nothing has happened legislatively from that angle. However, USDA does now have a program to assist existing smaller plants to upgrade facilities from state regulatory standards […] Read more
Dittmer: After struggle, NCBA agrees on mandates
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
The mood of this year’s National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) live cattle marketing committee meeting was a lot different than the summer meeting in 2020. That 2020 meeting lasted over six hours, involved multiple roll call votes among affiliate groups and revealed a big chasm between the mostly cow-calf and the cattle feeder organizations. The […] Read more
Dittmer: Radicals just keep trying to revive mCOOL
Just as certain fringe ag groups keep trying to get the government to take over fed cattle marketing, they keep trying to keep out imported beef as if that will solve all U.S. cattle industry problems. Even though their subterfuge of using labelling laws to remove competition from imported beef may sound good to the […] Read more
Dittmer: Toxic brews of do-gooders, politicians and bureaucrats
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
The problem with politics is that relative conservatives just want to be left alone to do things without unnecessary interference. Leftist activists want to save the world — or your world — by coercing behaviour. Which is why leftist ag groups and their enablers — leftist, big-government politicians and bureaucrats — keep trying to force […] Read more
Looking forward at progress
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
Sometimes in crazy times, it’s good to back up and look at the cards showing and your hole cards. Economically speaking, inflation is one key factor. A key inflation driver is fossil fuel costs. It enters in every phase of beef production beyond our magic photosynthesis machine — the cow. As both major producers and […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
