Are the meat industry days numbered?

The Rock
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The Rock
Edited Date/Time 4/11/2015 2:17am
The epic drought in CA is highlighting the amount of water it takes to raise beef. It is insane the amount of waste compared to using water to grow grain to feed the masses instead of giving it to cows.

Does anyone think this spells trouble for livestock famers or screw it just give me my steak.
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PalerBlue
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PalerBlue 4/9/2015 12:47am
4/9/2015 12:47am
I rather think that the "epic drought in CA is highlighting the" utter stupidity of housing millions of people in the middle of what is basically a desert area, hoping the weather will go out of it's way to help out and being shocked when it doesn't. The U.S. has a history of land mis-use and over exploitation. Dust bowl anyone?
Wasatch Rider 4/9/2015 1:02am
4/9/2015 1:02am
Well, its back to a more normal weather pattern for them according to the weather channel for a while anyway. the Northern part just got a good rain and a couple feet of snow in the California mountains.
What they got isnt shit, but its toward the end of the rainy season too.

Still way below normal though.
SF45
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SF45 4/9/2015 2:22am
4/9/2015 2:22am
Out here in San Jose they enacted some emergency regulations, talkin' bout replacing plants with drought proof plants, no more watering grass. Basically we're going to be Phoenix, no offense to Phoenix but shit man
SF45
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SF45 4/9/2015 2:25am
4/9/2015 2:25am
The most crazy fact I read about was almonds, it takes an ungodly amount of water to farm almonds, even more than beef I think. First thing I'd do is halt all almond production.

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newmann
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newmann 4/9/2015 4:25am
4/9/2015 4:25am
Can't beat a good thick nicely marbled ribeye.
71Fish
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71Fish 4/9/2015 5:10am
4/9/2015 5:10am
Droughts are temporary. Eventually the weather will cycle back. But like already said, it's a fookin desert, which mean less than 10" of rain annually, sooooo.
newmann
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newmann 4/9/2015 6:23am
4/9/2015 6:23am
71Fish wrote:
Droughts are temporary. Eventually the weather will cycle back. But like already said, it's a fookin desert, which mean less than 10" of rain annually, sooooo.
And other parts of the country are flooding. Here in Southeast Texas our average rainfall is in the 60 inch range. There is a little bit of red meat walking around down here. And crawfish....or crayfish for the Yankees and mudbugs for my coonass neighbors.

The good stuff from Larry's French Market here locally.


hvaughn88
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hvaughn88 4/9/2015 6:26am
4/9/2015 6:26am
71Fish wrote:
Droughts are temporary. Eventually the weather will cycle back. But like already said, it's a fookin desert, which mean less than 10" of rain annually, sooooo.
newmann wrote:
And other parts of the country are flooding. Here in Southeast Texas our average rainfall is in the 60 inch range. There is a little bit...
And other parts of the country are flooding. Here in Southeast Texas our average rainfall is in the 60 inch range. There is a little bit of red meat walking around down here. And crawfish....or crayfish for the Yankees and mudbugs for my coonass neighbors.

The good stuff from Larry's French Market here locally.


Nothing like some crawfish with enough kick in the seasoning to give you a good sweat on your brow...and a nice cold shiner
71Fish
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71Fish 4/9/2015 6:32am
4/9/2015 6:32am
71Fish wrote:
Droughts are temporary. Eventually the weather will cycle back. But like already said, it's a fookin desert, which mean less than 10" of rain annually, sooooo.
newmann wrote:
And other parts of the country are flooding. Here in Southeast Texas our average rainfall is in the 60 inch range. There is a little bit...
And other parts of the country are flooding. Here in Southeast Texas our average rainfall is in the 60 inch range. There is a little bit of red meat walking around down here. And crawfish....or crayfish for the Yankees and mudbugs for my coonass neighbors.

The good stuff from Larry's French Market here locally.


I live in Utah now because this is where I retired from the Air Force, but I am originally from Louisiana.
Crawdads are one thing I just never developed a taste for. I've eaten some things (and enjoyed) from the sea the 2 years I spent in Korea that would make people squeamish, but I still don't care much for crawdads. Maybe I've just never had them prepared properly.
newmann
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newmann 4/9/2015 6:36am
4/9/2015 6:36am
71Fish wrote:
I live in Utah now because this is where I retired from the Air Force, but I am originally from Louisiana. Crawdads are one thing I...
I live in Utah now because this is where I retired from the Air Force, but I am originally from Louisiana.
Crawdads are one thing I just never developed a taste for. I've eaten some things (and enjoyed) from the sea the 2 years I spent in Korea that would make people squeamish, but I still don't care much for crawdads. Maybe I've just never had them prepared properly.
Not enough in them for me, but my youngest son can do serious damage with the "all you can eat". Throw some on top of my redfish pontchartrain and I'm good.
IWreckALot
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IWreckALot 4/9/2015 7:12am
4/9/2015 7:12am
71Fish wrote:
I live in Utah now because this is where I retired from the Air Force, but I am originally from Louisiana. Crawdads are one thing I...
I live in Utah now because this is where I retired from the Air Force, but I am originally from Louisiana.
Crawdads are one thing I just never developed a taste for. I've eaten some things (and enjoyed) from the sea the 2 years I spent in Korea that would make people squeamish, but I still don't care much for crawdads. Maybe I've just never had them prepared properly.
newmann wrote:
Not enough in them for me, but my youngest son can do serious damage with the "all you can eat". Throw some on top of my...
Not enough in them for me, but my youngest son can do serious damage with the "all you can eat". Throw some on top of my redfish pontchartrain and I'm good.
I'm going to my first crawfish broil in a couple of weeks. We'll see how I like them.

I go to a crab broil every year with my family. Same concept but with crab. They make it super spicy. I really like the Slap Ya Mama seasoning. It has quite a kick to it for even me. I have a high tolerance for spicy things.
IWreckALot
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IWreckALot 4/9/2015 7:14am
4/9/2015 7:14am
As for the meat industry, it's days are far from numbered. As with any drought year, they fluctuate the price accordingly.
newmann
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newmann 4/9/2015 7:34am
4/9/2015 7:34am
Back on topic. Smile

Grilled this sweetness on the hibachi recently. Brushed with olive oil and lightly salted with kosher salt and some coarse black pepper. Working my way down to a medium rare. Not quite there yet, but considering I started as a well done type and am now at medium there may be hope.



XXVoid MainXX
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XXVoid MainXX 4/9/2015 7:36am
4/9/2015 7:36am Edited Date/Time 4/9/2015 7:36am
Wow, it looks pretty rare to me. Smile Put enough A1 on it I guess it will be fine. Smile
4stroke4DWIN
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4stroke4DWIN 4/9/2015 7:38am
4/9/2015 7:38am
Crawdads are 10.99 a pound out here in AZ!! NOT EVEN FRESH, I think my wife said she looked back home in Tx and they are at 4.99 a pound fresh. Ah the struggles of desert living, no rain and no mudbugs. Lets move back to Tx lol.
4stroke4DWIN
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4stroke4DWIN 4/9/2015 7:40am
4/9/2015 7:40am
newmann wrote:
Back on topic. :) Grilled this sweetness on the hibachi recently. Brushed with olive oil and lightly salted with kosher salt and some coarse black pepper...
Back on topic. Smile

Grilled this sweetness on the hibachi recently. Brushed with olive oil and lightly salted with kosher salt and some coarse black pepper. Working my way down to a medium rare. Not quite there yet, but considering I started as a well done type and am now at medium there may be hope.



Did you cut off the part thats cooked?
hvaughn88
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hvaughn88 4/9/2015 7:43am
4/9/2015 7:43am
I like my steaks with a pulseLaughing For me, if it's warm, it's ready to eat.

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IWreckALot
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IWreckALot 4/9/2015 8:14am
4/9/2015 8:14am
I'm a medium kind of guy. I like my steak hot but red on the inside.

I've been debating getting a crawdad trap and finding a few backwoods areas and trying my luck with them.
4stroke4DWIN
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4stroke4DWIN 4/9/2015 8:20am
4/9/2015 8:20am
Speaking of crawdads, anyone ever try some bacon on a string to get them out of these? We used to do it in our backyard when we were kids.


71Fish
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71Fish 4/9/2015 8:30am
4/9/2015 8:30am
4stroke4DWIN wrote:
Speaking of crawdads, anyone ever try some bacon on a string to get them out of these? We used to do it in our backyard when...
Speaking of crawdads, anyone ever try some bacon on a string to get them out of these? We used to do it in our backyard when we were kids.


Shit man, in LA, if we found a puddle in the woods we would catch big crawdads with a basket and some bacon.

Talking about steak, my wife likes her steak like a damn shoe leather. I guess that's how they eat it in Argentina. I like mine medium, but am starting to go more med-rare.

Really back on topic, the invisible hand of capitalism will regulate the price of beef. It ain't going anywhere, just may be more expensive. Personally, I would rather get it locally (and do) than shipped from some foreign country like California.
vanillaice782 4/9/2015 8:56am
4/9/2015 8:56am
Why in the world haven't they came up with a way to convert salt water to at least be able to use it to water plants? How hard would that be? There has to be some way to do it. It's not like we can't reuse water. We pee it it out and then it goes back up into the clouds anyway.

71Fish
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71Fish 4/9/2015 9:02am
4/9/2015 9:02am
vanillaice782 wrote:
Why in the world haven't they came up with a way to convert salt water to at least be able to use it to water plants...
Why in the world haven't they came up with a way to convert salt water to at least be able to use it to water plants? How hard would that be? There has to be some way to do it. It's not like we can't reuse water. We pee it it out and then it goes back up into the clouds anyway.

We can and do, just not on a scale to sustain a city or larger. Humans have been distilling water for over 2000 years.
A. DLeary
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A. DLeary 4/9/2015 9:02am
4/9/2015 9:02am
The price of beef will increase, but I don't understand why the meat industry days are numbered?
vanillaice782 4/9/2015 9:11am
4/9/2015 9:11am
vanillaice782 wrote:
Why in the world haven't they came up with a way to convert salt water to at least be able to use it to water plants...
Why in the world haven't they came up with a way to convert salt water to at least be able to use it to water plants? How hard would that be? There has to be some way to do it. It's not like we can't reuse water. We pee it it out and then it goes back up into the clouds anyway.

71Fish wrote:
We can and do, just not on a scale to sustain a city or larger. Humans have been distilling water for over 2000 years.
Ah I see. It just seems silly. Every year it is the same story in California.
bronwynrayne
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bronwynrayne 4/9/2015 9:18am
4/9/2015 9:18am
The meat farming industry is highly unsustainable. The use of land to raise animals/grow feed for animals is without a doubt much less effective than using the same land to grow produce. That being said, our societal priorities are based on convenience, and I don't know many people that wouldn't throw a fit if they were told that if they wanted to eat meat they had to raise and slaughter it themselves.

I grew up in the country and I killed chickens and fish when I was a kid, harvested eggs, had a huge garden in the backyard that my mom used to feed us in the producing months, and fruit trees all over the property. It wasn't a fancy life but it was a good life, and I think our veering off of the simple path in life has had a great effect on the way that we see our food. We want it pretty, we want it neat, clean, easy. Those plants grows in the ground, in the dirty dirt, that animal used to eat and shit and produce offspring, and when it was killed it bled and felt pain if it wasn't killed humanely. People don't wanna see that, and they don't wanna work for it, which is why we have this fuckin problem.
Falcon
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Falcon 4/9/2015 9:26am
4/9/2015 9:26am
SF45 wrote:
Out here in San Jose they enacted some emergency regulations, talkin' bout replacing plants with drought proof plants, no more watering grass. Basically we're going to...
Out here in San Jose they enacted some emergency regulations, talkin' bout replacing plants with drought proof plants, no more watering grass. Basically we're going to be Phoenix, no offense to Phoenix but shit man
We aren't going to be Phoenix, because Arizona owns the water rights to the Colorado river. We own squat, so we're going to be worse off than Phoenix by a long shot.


I am particularly screwed because I hate seafood and especially wouldn't eat a crawdad if my life depended on it! Laughing
Sandberm
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Sandberm 4/9/2015 10:56am
4/9/2015 10:56am
We're decades away from having to ration what we grow due to lack of farm land or water(on a national basis).

Maybe in certain places in the country they will deem what you can and cant grow/raise based on water consumption but I dont see it happening on a large scale any time soon.

I like beef, its damn tasty and satisfying and a lot of other people agree.
neverwasfastenuf 4/9/2015 2:28pm
4/9/2015 2:28pm
newmann wrote:
Back on topic. :) Grilled this sweetness on the hibachi recently. Brushed with olive oil and lightly salted with kosher salt and some coarse black pepper...
Back on topic. Smile

Grilled this sweetness on the hibachi recently. Brushed with olive oil and lightly salted with kosher salt and some coarse black pepper. Working my way down to a medium rare. Not quite there yet, but considering I started as a well done type and am now at medium there may be hope.



Amen on the ribeye, best overall choice in my opinion.

My wife prefers filet mignon and I'm finally getting her to work her way down from overkilling it with heat.

I jsed to like my steaks way overcooked as well but prefer them the other way now, so much better flavor.
T.Page
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T.Page 4/9/2015 3:17pm
4/9/2015 3:17pm Edited Date/Time 4/9/2015 3:17pm
Farming, beef and dairy will return east to the small farm. Plenty of water and plenty of grass to feed them. I hope.

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