Latest incidents should wake us all up

Grazing livestock on cover crops is one of the most efficient ways to improve soil fertility. (Courtesy photo.)

I am very concerned about America. I hope that the breakdown for the Secret Service of protecting former President Donald Trump was simply a mistake.

"Just A Scoopful" - Jerry Nine
“Just A Scoopful” – Jerry Nine

Some think we have gotten so far away from what the United States used to stand for, but we are finally waking up. In the past 3 1/2 years there have been more than 8 million encounters with unauthorized immigrants nationwide. Worse yet, 1.7 million of these people are known to have gotten away from border security officials. I know some have reported 12 million people who have come across the border illegally.

I am not against anyone who wants to work and make a better life for their family, but if you think they all came to work and go to church then I guess you are as dumb as some others in Washington D.C. We don’t have a clue who all is here.

Turning to the cattle market, killing cows will often bring more than I want to give for a young-bred cow. A group of cows with some meat weighing 1,600 pounds brought $144 per hundredweight, which is $2,304 per head. Another heavy bred cow, a medium quality 8-year-old, weighed 1,190 pounds and brought $135 per hundredweight, which is $1,606.

Early in the week, steers at 803 pounds brought $264.50, which is $2,123.93, and 988-pound steers brought $249.50, which is $2,465.

I walked into the cattle sale this morning as a father and son were having a discussion over whether the son had fed the cows good enough hay the night before that he was selling today. Another cow buyer was sitting close and said to me, “Do these two argue that much all the time?” I said, “Well, I’m not sure. I’ve only known them for 40 years, and they have ever since I have known them, but I’m not sure before that.”

Editor’s note: The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not represent the view of High Plains Journal. Jerry Nine, Woodward, Oklahoma, is a lifetime cattleman who grew up on his family’s ranch near Slapout, Oklahoma.