News

SD Farmers Union cattleman can’t break even

A cow-calf producer told his lawmakers on Capitol Hill last week he is struggling to make a profit.

“We’re probably going to receive somewhere around $200 under our break even this year. So, explaining that to them and the expenses we incur and all the hard work we do and we can’t even seem to break even.”

Shane Fastnacht farms in central South Dakota (Wessington Springs) and is a member of the South Dakota Farmers Union.

He tells Brownfield Ag News what happened after the beef processing plant fire in Kansas several weeks ago hasn’t helped, “They raised the price of boxed beef several dollars per hundred and they lowered the live price down $10 to $15 in just a few days. You know, that type of stuff really hits home for us being involved in a cow-calf operation.”

Fastnacht says his lawmakers told him the USDA investigation is underway and it’ll take some time.

Fastnacht took part in the National Farmers Union fly-in with more than 30 other state members and a total of nearly 400 members nationwide.