A lot of sale barns are screaming as loud as they can. Working on your behalf against this packer ripping off the cattlemen. And then you have all these cattle organizations that are supposed to be working on your behalf that say nothing. This makes me furious.
A lot of that happens because these organizations follow whatever NCBA says and tells them what they are to believe. And then you hear them give a speech on how we farmers and cattlemen will survive because we are producing great and safe food that America loves. And all this time a lot of cattlemen are literally going broke. Some of these organizations will say, “Well, you should have had them hedged.” That is true, this time. And particularly this time like last week they run April fat cattle down to $0.85 and the same day beef prices hit all-time highs.
I don’t know about you but I am not going to give everything that I have worked for the past 45 years to the packer or Brazil. Choice beef prices today hit $311 and the packer profit on a normal kill week would have been $1,384 per head. Granted their expenses at the packing house would be higher because of this virus, but not that much to justify that. Our cattle futures are out of touch with reality and at the cattleman’s expense.
Brazil has taken over the citrus industry in Florida now and it is not buying a lot of the oranges from them. See what your food costs are when Brazilians or other countries get complete control of our food industry. Wake up, America!
Lots of heifers will be bred this year because of the packer forcing our cattle market to these levels. I hate dwelling on the negative but the only positive news I see is young bred cows and pairs are still a good price and we did get a much-needed rain. It was not as much rain as we needed but from a half an inch to an inch but very thankful to get that.
Research has shown that laughing for two minutes is just as healthy as a 20-minute jog. So now I’m sitting ion the park laughing at all the joggers.
Editor’s note: Jerry Nine, Woodward, Oklahoma, is a lifetime cattleman who grew up on his family’s ranch near Slapout, Oklahoma.
