sarahtaber.bsky.social
Ex-farm worker & crop scientist. Here to talk food, agriculture, and money.
patreon.com/farmtotaber
1,462 posts
11,545 followers
1,503 following
Getting Started
Active Commenter
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See this report on consolidation & price fixing across farm industry. The egg sector is pages 115-122.
farmaction.us/wp-content/u...
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Re: huge margins- Cal-Maine was making ~40% profit during the last egg price spike.
They've also been deliberately raising fewer & fewer hens relative to egg supply in order to raise prices for ~20 years. That's a) part of why replacement hens are so slow to appear and b) price fixing.
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Yeah the US's antitrust enforcement is crazy slow, and afaik the steepest penalty that's ever been considered is "let's fine the companies."
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Here's a good article about the avian vaccines ( I think there is not one for humans yet)
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
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love a good vintage antitrust law <3
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Last but not least, vaccinating *free-range* birds can cause a mess bc they hang out w wild birds & swap viruses. Any flu strain they catch from wild birds are pressured to mutate & adapt to the vaccine.
Not a big risk in the US bc commercial flocks are almost entirely indoors here.
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Depending on the vaccine, it can be given to chicks before they're even delivered to the farm. Distributing vaccine doesn't have to be an occasional for spreading the virus around.
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Vaccination ops don't spread flu flock to flock- no more than any more than any other farm activity like delivering feed & tools, or veterinarian visits.
Definitely not as much as sparrows & other wild birds getting into the barns.
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The US doesn't handle bird flu via culling because of our food safety standards are high.
We cull to meet OTHER COUNTRIES' food safety standards.
www.motherjones.com/environment/...
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As far as misconceptions, I'm an agricultural scientist. I've consulted for large-scale farms on how to stop disease spread & prevent economic losses.
Can assure you there are no misconceptions here, at least not on my end.
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We don't have higher food safety standards than the rest of the world.
Citation: I spent ~4 years doing GFSI-benchmarked food safety audits. These audits 1) are the global standard for international trade, and 2) use standards much higher than US federal & state food safety laws.
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Report on price gouging, eggs are pages 115-122:
farmaction.us/wp-content/u...
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yeah that's what's going on : /
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Si no les contamos a los estadounidenses sobre las vacunas y las leyes, ¿quién lo hará?
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Yeah totally, it's just impressive that Mexico even has jailtime as an option for corporate theft, bc the US doesn't afaik.
Technically US-DOJ can break up companies that have gotten too big, but IRL the only penalty that actually gets threatened here is fines.
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yep, thanks @theglassspider.bsky.social!
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conspicuous consumption but make it threatening 🥚🥚🥚
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cue frantic "build the wall" noises from Big Egg
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Here are the teeth on Mexico's antitrust laws.
-Fine companies up to 10% of their annual turnover.
-Corporate leaders banned from executive positions in any company up to 5 years.
-Up to 10 years in jail.
www.vonwobeser.com/images/PDF_n...
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I'm simply curious about where all the cash he's sinking into this farm is coming from. Since he's presenting himself as a humble blue collar guy & such.
Much of the US farm sector is well-off folks who LARP as broke lil ranchers. So it's a fair question.
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Beef cow prices are $2/lb liveweight, or about $2K/cow. Those are *very* high prices- we're at the top of a 10-11 yr cycle rn. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_...
E.g. cattle prices are most likely about to drop by a lot.
So he's buying expensive cows now, to have cheap cows later. Oof.
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Hi there! I'm a small farmer & work with farms on making their farms profitable. I'm familiar with early-stage farms being a cash sink.
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(:
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whole lotta wtf in this saga that flew totally under the radar, is all I'm saying
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And in this TikTok, near the end, he mentions he "figured out how to make things work financially" after DOGE took the money.
Big if true! Who can just absorb an $80K loss after fiddling with his books for a few days?
www.tiktok.com/@cattlemenfa...
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The math ain't mathin.
Banks only lend money to people who can pay it back. For a mortgage, there's a whole vetting process where they want to see your pay stubs; your spouse's pay stubs; financial records, business plan, etc etc.
What's the down payment like for a mortgage with $42K/yr interest?
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This!!
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cool thought but just gonna flag that the US does have some rules about protection of free speech. fedpost on here again & you're blocked ❤️
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if you keep reading the thread you'll get to the part about getting paid to do it. u gotta let it breathe
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so crazy how that works!
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mostly buying TV ads during the last month of elections tbh
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if only Americans lived in an extremely wealthy country with many resources available. wherever will we find such a place 🤔
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if you keep reading the thread you'll get to the part about circumventing the billionaires. u gotta let it breathe
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yeah (:
as you can see, I'm not waiting for them (:
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great thing billionaires really aren't necessary, you can make a solid social media channel for 5-6 digits a year
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Anyway, here's my Patreon! It's got cool bonuses like extra news videos.
patreon.com/farmtotaber
And here's my Ko-Fi, a one-time tip jar if monthly subscriptions aren't for you but you still want to support.
ko-fi.com/farmtotaber
If you can't give, we've all been there, please signal boost!
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The upshot: the US left is having a moment where it really needs to find its new voice.
And the fact that big donors have no idea how to build up social media yet? Means rank & file people get to pick what that new voice sounds like.
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That's why I'm doing short videos- to get free, high-quality info in front of people who really need it.
It's also why I'm beating the drum on this sponsorship drive. It's *extremely* up to individual creators to find a way to pay our editors, researchers, etc.
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Which is a bummer, because right now is a GREAT time to be getting info in front of your average rank & file Americans.
Public opinion's already turning on the new president due to cost of living.
x.com/AstorAaron/s...
And BOY do I have some stuff to say re: cost of living.
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Post '24, elected leaders & major donors on the center-left have woken up to this problem. "We need more social media!"
As far as I can tell though, they still don't know what to do about it. Last I heard they were stuck on "Who's gonna pay for it? How do we build the grant programs?" etc.
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The relative ease of financing right-wing social media means more creators can turn it into a full-time job. They can stick w it long enough to build big audiences.
That's why the right has so many highly-viewed podcasters & social media creators. And it's why they won in '24.
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Meanwhile right-wing creators have a relatively easy time finding grants, partnership deals, etc.
They also target gullible people & teach them to be paranoid about new information. That makes it easier to sell them scam supplements, crypto currency, etc.