I don’t where you are but I am frustrated with the cattle business right now. We have become accustomed to the fact that it is all right for the packer to make $300 to $400 on every head of fat cattle.
That is OK, I guess, but when a rumor starts on Thursday there might be problems again with COVID and they add to the rumor that the president-elect, Joe Biden, would shut down packing houses to correct problems, then you have a manipulated market.
Then we hear fat cattle sellers were extremely disappointed that we only got $110 per hundredweight for fat cattle. Let’s be honest; if they bid you $90 you will take it. Who’s to say their profit shouldn’t be $450 more. I got a text that JBS had a net income increase in the third quarter compared to 2019. I guess you can check it out and see if you think that is accurate.
But I would guess with what we have going on in the cattle business it can be accurate. And all this time we have a lot of smart cattlemen who seem to be scared to death of trying to change things, not only for now but for the next generation.
On a happier note, it was Thanksgiving week and all of us have things we should be thankful for. We still live in the greatest land of all—even with the negative news you hear. Be sure to remind your family of all the things that you have to be thankful for.
One of the guys who came in for the morning coffee was late this morning. So naturally we were all giving him reasons why we thought he overslept. Perhaps there was too much frisky activity the night before. We knew he was not overworked and just tired. But then finally we decided perhaps his wife snores too loud and he couldn’t hear the alarm. Whatever the excuse was at the coffee shop we have to pick on someone.
An old man called his son and said, “Listen, your mother and I are getting a divorce.” The son screams, “Dad, what are you talking about?” He said, “We can’t stand the sight of each other so call your sister and tell her.”
The son soon calls back and said, “Dad, don’t do anything. We are flying home tomorrow to talk about this. Don’t call a lawyer.”
The dad hangs up the phone and said to his wife, “OK, they are both coming home for Thanksgiving and paying their own way.”
Editor’s note: Jerry Nine, Woodward, Oklahoma, is a lifetime cattleman who grew up on his family’s ranch near Slapout, Oklahoma.
