The forage was not finished harvesting, and it was the time agreed with Burris, which was also the time for the ranchers to have a small gathering.
Zhang Chi didn't have time to prepare, so he asked Cannon what he should pay attention to, so he brought a portion of fried rice he cooked to the appointment.
From what Cannon said, this kind of gathering is where ranchers get together to chat, have something to eat, etc. Anyway, it’s just about exchanging feelings.
Every participating rancher will bring some food and drink, which is a bit like our country's buddies (collecting money to eat together).
Zhang Chi didn't have anything to bring, so he simply fried up a portion of three-fresh fried rice. Americans like this. If you make braised pig's trotters or something, they might not dare to eat it. Besides, it's troublesome to cook a large dish.
Three fresh fried rice, as long as it is not too fried to taste, it is definitely VERY GOOD for these Americans!
The three fresh fried rice was fried right away. After it was cooked, it was packed in a disposable lunch box, and Zhang Chi set off.
This kind of gathering is not formal, nor is it a dinner party or anything like that. There is no need to dress up or anything like that. Just wear whatever you normally wear.
Arrive at Burris' house.
Burris asked Zhang Chi to open the door and come in.
After opening the ranch door, Zhang Chi drove the car to the door of Burris' house and found that someone had already arrived. There were several cars parked at the door, including a pickup truck and two SUVs.
This kind of thing is rare here. Generally speaking, ranchers drive pickup trucks wherever they go. Generally speaking, most of the people who drive this kind of SUV are 'city dwellers', that is, people who do not make a living from farming and ranching.
It's open.
The people who came did not play in the house, but just stayed on the terrace outside. Burris was now standing in front of the oven roasting meat, and several others were on the grass nearby, shooting bows and arrows at the target.
Upward cumshot.
All in all, it was quite a lively group of people.
I got out of the car with fried rice.
"George!"
Zhang Chi heard Burris greeting him, so he smiled at him, walked up to the terrace and placed the fried rice in his hands on the long table.
They all know Zhang Chi, a few ranchers, but they have never had much interaction with each other. First, Zhang Chi always retreats to his ranch and rarely comes out. Second, no one has paid much attention to Zhang Chi before.
But today, several ranchers greeted Zhang Chi with a smile, as if they were old friends, and they didn't feel embarrassed at all.
Zhang Chi is not embarrassed at all. He has been delivering food for more than ten years, and it is still embarrassing to encounter this kind of thing. The food for more than ten years has not been given away in vain. To say that it is cooked is a bit too much, but Zhang Chi can never tell it on his face.
Not familiar with these people.
After everyone said hello, Burris introduced two new faces to Zhang Chi.
"George! Come here and introduce to you, this is Jonathan, a city councilor, and this is Leonard, a lawyer...".
Zhang Chi shook hands with the two of them one after another, but felt a little strange in his heart. It is easy to understand the city councilors. It is normal for this kind of low-level politics to appear here. There must be no big fish coming to such a gathering. This kind of city
It's not surprising at all that the young congressman appears.
It’s different here. Ranchers are not afraid of officials. More often than not, officials need these ranchers who have spare money in their pockets to help their career. Therefore, these political people will appear at any gathering. The difference
The difference lies in the row size and position.
Of course, being able to attend such a small gathering hosted by the Burris family is certainly not a big deal.
But why is Leonard the lawyer here? It can’t be that he wants to litigate.
While Zhang Chi was thinking about this, Burris smiled at Zhang Chi and said, "This is your first time here, and we have prepared a small gift for you."
"Oh?" Zhang Chi was even more surprised.
After finishing speaking, Burris put down the meat tongs in his hand and turned back to the house.
When I came back, I had a brown cowboy hat in my hand. It was an old-fashioned cowboy hat, with the big brim on both sides slightly rolled up.
"Try it and see if it fits." Burris put the cowboy hat in Zhang Chi's hand and walked back to the oven.
Zhang Chi took over the cowboy hat, took off the baseball cap on his head, put the new hat on his head, straightened it from side to side, and asked Burris, "How are you doing?"
“Quite suitable!”
Penny, the old rancher next to him, said something.
"It's quite appropriate."
Zhang Chi's neighbor Serriol also said with a smile.
"Well, that's good, thank you all."
Zhang Chi smiled at everyone.
Zhang Chi understood the meaning of giving a cowboy hat. It was not just a hat, but it represented that these ranchers had recognized themselves and proved that they were a rancher or a cowboy in their hearts.
Although Zhang Chi, the cowboy, is a bit too watery and can't even use a lasso.
Putting this kind of thing aside for now, Zhang Chi's strong calf in the pasture is a manifestation of Zhang Chi's ability.
With the new hat, Zhang Chi threw his old baseball cap into the car. At least Zhang Chi would wear this hat at the party today. Needless to say, the reason was that someone just gave him a hat.
If I agree with you, just throw away your hat. What else is there for someone who is so stupid to be in the society?
"George, come here, how are your archery skills? Do you want to try one?"
A man said something to Zhang Chi.
"It's not that good, but it can hit the target."
Zhang Chi took a look at the distance between these people and the target and felt that there was no problem in hitting the target.
Zhang Chi had also practiced archery, and after all, he had lived in Folsom for more than ten years. Firearms required bullets, but bows and arrows could be recycled, so Zhang Chi's archery skills were far better than his marksmanship.
These people are not just playing bow and arrow for fun, there is some small bonus, but not much. They are just playing and not gambling, so when Zhang Chi saw a few ten dollars on the small table, he took it out of his pocket
A ten dollar bill was placed on the table.
"With my bow".
Serriol handed his bow into Zhang Chi's hand.
Zhang Chi took the bow and thanked him, then he drew an arrow and put it on the bow, aimed at the target, calmed his breathing, held his breath and felt that it was almost done, then let go.
stretch!
The arrow hit the target. The result was not too good, but not too bad either. Eight rings!
"You almost lost five dollars with this arrow."
Serriol next to him looked at the target and said with a smile.
"It's already pretty good." Zhang Chi smiled nonchalantly.
When it comes to playing these things, Zhang Chi is definitely not as good as most Americans here.
The main reason is that he doesn't have time to practice. He used to deliver food every day, so how could he have time to do this? But these people are different. There is nothing fun in the ranch. These cowboys have to drive for an hour or two if they want to go to a big health care.
, they only have three or four days of rest a month, and most of their usual entertainment is playing with guns, or shooting arrows, throwing darts, etc. Naturally, their kung fu is not comparable to that of Zhang Chi, a delivery boy.
And these people are at least one step older than Zhang Chi. If they can't practice any archery skills after living for such a long time, wouldn't they be useless snacks?
Returning the bow to Serriol, Zhang Chi stood aside and watched others shoot arrows.
As expected, these old guys are very good at this, and every one of them has either nine rings or a red heart.
After two or three rounds, Zhang Chi’s ten dollars went into other arms.
But it’s just a joke for everyone. Even ten dollars can’t make anyone richer, and it can’t make anyone poorer.
If a group of ranchers are chatting, they must talk about things on the ranch.
"George, are you going to sell your cows in the fall?"
A rancher asked Zhang Chi.
Zhang Chi didn't hide it. He will definitely sell cattle this fall. If he doesn't sell the cattle, how can he repay the money from the bank?
"It depends on the market. If the market is good, sell more. If the market is not so good, sell about a hundred heads to raise some funds," Zhang Chi said.
Everyone usually chooses to sell cattle before winter comes, because this will reduce the pressure on their pastures. Grass costs more than $200 per ton. If you keep it for another winter, the cost of investment is not small.
These are generally grass-fed pastures, not specialized fattening pastures. Snow or the like will not have much impact on them. Anyway, they usually raise cattle this way. They use a fence to circle the cattle and feed them grain.
Less activity and more fat gain.
This is not possible for a ranch like Zhangchi. The cost of surviving the winter will immediately increase a lot.
Normally, when cattle are raised over 800 pounds in a grazing pasture, the weight of the cattle will increase very slowly. For example, ten kilograms of pasture will produce one pound of meat, but for adult cattle weighing more than 800 pounds, ten kilograms of pasture will continue to grow.
I can't even feed half a pound of meat.
If you calculate the economic calculation in this way, it means that input and output are not directly proportional, so grazing pastures are unlikely to continue to raise cattle until they reach adulthood.
"This year's market is not very optimistic."
An old rancher offered his perspective.
"Yes, I think that's the case. The price of pasture has increased so much that people can't understand it, but the price of beef has been falling."
Another rancher sighed and agreed.
It sounds strange that forage is going up but beef is going down, but it’s not strange at all.
The purchase of beef cattle in the United States is usually in the hands of the four major companies. **S, Tyson and other four major companies account for 80% of the slaughter volume in the entire U.S. market. It can be said that they have joined forces to monopolize the U.S. beef market.
Let’s put it this way, these four major companies are making money from both ends, lowering the purchase price of beef cattle while raising the selling price on the market.
This has resulted in the fact that the price of cattle sold by ranchers has been falling, but the price of beef in the market over there has been rising. Many ranchers are not making money selling cattle, and the citizens there can almost no longer afford beef.
For Zhang Chi, he is naturally not afraid. No matter what, he will make a profit this year, because his cattle are bought cheaply, which is almost like giving them away for free. If he does not make money, the ranchers in front of him will
I have to lose my pants.
Everyone knows the reason, but they don’t have the power to fight against the four major companies. If you don’t sell to fattening pastures, what will you do? Raise it yourself until it’s ready for slaughter? Even if you lose yourself to death, it’s considered a light thing. Fattening companies are not good people either. They sell beef cattle.
So low, how could his acquisition price be so high? With so many links involved, in the end the pressure is on both sides.
Those who sell cattle and eat meat have become the most unlucky.