Since when is better for the Sows to run free and give birth to the piglets they will end up eating if they aren’t contained???  READ THIS ONE….

McDonald’s to move toward stall-free U.S. pork

U.S. suppliers of pork to fast-food giant McDonald’s have been given four months to present plans to phase out the use of sow gestation stalls in their hog barns.

“McDonald’s believes gestation stalls are not a sustainable production system for the future,” Dan Gorsky, the senior vice-president of North America supply chain management for the Illinois-based company, said in a release Monday. “There are alternatives that we think are better for the welfare of sows.”

After spending a few months researching the beef packing industry & compiling the necessary information to complete a feasibilty study we made the decision to move forward with this venture.. A business model that would target a niche market where producers raised cattle without the use of implants & minimal antibiotics.

Every day that passed was more money lost in the cattle industry. Manitoba was taking the brunt of this BSE crisis!!!

The study was eventually funded by the NDP Government. Looking back I should have never applied for the funding, this was my first mistake with Government… As time went on, the research and information our company paid for, would be used by the NDP Government to create a Provincial Beef Industry study & help the struggling Ranchers Choice project in Dauphin. A project the current Ag Minister was bound and determined to be successful.

It wasn’t long and I found myself involved in meetings with a group of cattle producers and feedlot owners discussing the BSE crisis and options to process cattle… These meetings went on throughout the summer months and eventually led to a presentation from two cattle producers from Saskatchewan that were building a beef harvesting plant in the Wolseley, Neudorf area.. A plan that was written prior to the BSE. This plan entailed raising “Natural Beef” for a niche market.. In early August I travelled to Wolseley to meet with the founders of a company called “Natural Valley Farms”. Within a month we made the decision to work together in a joint venture agreement.

In September 2004, I created the company “Natural Prairie Beef Inc.” (NPB) a company created to raise capital for this joint venture and eventually build a second beef harvesting plant in Neepawa, Manitoba. As the momentum continued to grow, we announced the plan for Neepawa in the fall of 2004… A plan the Neepawa area would buy into. The town council was a great group to work with and rallied behind this proposal for Neepawa. Unfortunately our current Ag Minister wasn’t, her mission was Dauphin… We were always recognized by the Provincial Ag Minister as the other beef initiative… At the time I didn’t understand the politics behind all this & eventually used my political friends to educate me… This education began with a press conference at the Fall Fair in 2004 to talk about our venture and challenge the NDP Government to get on side. The press conference was led by Minister Glen Cummings, a press release that would finally wake up the Ag Minister & a few other politicians.

The next day, I was out feeding my cows when I received a call from our Ag Minister, Rosann Wowchuk. Needless to say, “She wasn’t very impressed!!”

It was like she hadn’t been briefed over the past six months about our venture?? Looking back, based on my knowledge of the NDP Government today, I believe the man responsible for those briefings was the Deputy Ag Minister???

By late fall our consulting company, “Meyers, Norris, Penny”, had created the business plan & investment package for our Company. A plan that would eventually raise over $2 million in equity.

By late 2004 the momentum in this venture was growing, the BSE crisis & the border closures were making the cattle world pay close attention to the future of the industry!! Hopes of the border opening were fading….

Would the border open in 2005?? Would the Natural Valley Plant open??

To be continued…..

KELLY’S STORY EIGHT YEARS LATER…

It was early one morning in February of 2004, I woke up listening to CKLQ, our local ag radio station… The story was as simple as this… Cargil benefits from Federal funding to help finance increased slaughter capacity to help in this BSE Crisis… Money the cow calf producer would never see… ????

It was at that moment my Venture in the Beef Packing industry began… I ventured in to what I thought would be a great business opportunity… LITTLE DID I KNOW!!!

Did I wake up on the wrong side of the bed??? Where would this venture lead me??? WELL… most of you know how it ended… but do you know what went on in between???

Stay tuned over the next weeks & months as I share the inside scoop of what really happened… Why did the Federal Government announce the $10 million to this project and then denounce it????

DO YOU WANT THE GOVERNMENT INVOLVED IN YOUR FARM???

THE FUTURE IN AGRICULTURE IS THE FARMER…. NOT THE GOVERNMENT!!

Follow my blog over the next weeks/ months and I will give you the inside story on my experience with Government and how they functioned in our Beef Venture..

Google Natural Prairie Beef for information on my story in the beef packing industry & how everything got started back in early 2004. Reading the history online will help you understand my story over the next weeks/ months….

Better yet, we have 2010 & 2011 tractors available at a 15% Cash discount…

Call us for a demo!!

How many of you attended the 2012 AgDays? The optimism & buzz in Agriculture was incredible. As I stood around the Versatile sprayer & four wheel drive tractors, I listened to the same comments from farmers throughout the show, ” We used to own a Versatile tractor & It is great to see Versatile back in the field”. Even better, the tractors are made in Manitoba & priced in CD funds!! A huge price advantage to the Manitoba farmer.

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5.  June 1, 2012 finance waiver and cash discount on swathers & big balers (must be financed through Agco finance).

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At the end of the day, the two machines are very comparable in size and design. The major difference is in the price… BUY A VERSATILE AND SAVE OVER $30,000 compared to the Miller Condor G75…