It’s hard to write this article and not use more cuss words than other words. This is a perfect example of how our whole industry is so manipulated and controlled by packers and/or retailers. And the part I don’t like is that supply and demand have very little to do with our business. It’s a shame that if they sell live fat cattle on the futures that they don’t have to sell beef cheaper also. And it is a shame that a lot of these cattle organizations don’t have the guts to stand up for the individual cattlemen. Most of the small feedlots feel whipped but don’t like to admit it publicly. And it appears a lot of these big boys are smart enough to get their people on the board or in the middle of these organizations. One cattle buyer said he thought one organization in particular was too radical. If you’re not a little radical, you don’t get anything accomplished.
I said all along on COOL—Country of Origin Labeling—the packer or retailer was smart enough to convince a lot of these organizations we didn’t need this. Even one excuse was extra expense on labeling. I say BS. They knew if we labeled it most Americans would want U.S. beef. And then they couldn’t buy beef anywhere in the world it is the cheapest and make you think it was the best. I am disappointed that I hear none of these cattle organizations saying anything about the eight individuals charged for manipulating the futures market. Do they not care?
Oklahoma City Stockyards ran less than 2,000 cattle on Monday and I bet that is the fewest cattle that have been run for a long time without a storm being the cause. You mark my words, they will run the futures down to the level they want and then change the tempo for low placements for April and May.
My advice on a blind date—if they don’t look like their picture then the drinks are on them until they do.
A first grade kid was looking at a zoo book and said to his teacher, “Look at that frickin’ elephant.”
The teacher said, “Don’t use that word or talk like that.”
She grabbed the book and said, “Oh, I see, an African elephant.”
Editor’s note: Jerry Nine, Woodward, Oklahoma, is a lifetime cattleman who grew up on his family’s ranch near Slapout, Oklahoma.
