Pause on ground tariffs is big news
The big news recently was President Donald Trump announced a pause on ground beef tariffs Aug. 21 in an attempt to lower prices for consumers.
Trump posted on social media that the United States will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of beef to be imported over 90 days without triggering higher tariff rates. He said there is a commitment from certain companies that it will be sold 25% below current market prices as 1.1 tons equals a metric ton. That is 660 million pounds of beef or a little more than one week’s processing at a plant.
I know President Trump has his hands full and he believes he has to win the mid-terms for Republicans, but I say let it be supply and demand. If beef is too high consumers can eat chicken, pork, fish, or roadkill. Roadkill would be good for a bunch of city slickers.
That added hamburger would be like adding a little over 12,000 killing cows each day. A drought can force a lot more hamburger on the market than that in one state. The talk of it will hurt more than the actuality. If you think beef is higher than a lot of other things you better refigure. If most families would quit bouncing into convenience stores and letting every kid pick out whatever he or she wants they could eat T-bone steak anytime they wanted.
We had already slipped $20 per hundredweight on fat cattle before any of this. There are many cattlemen picking up cattle off grass trying to decide whether to sell them and take less per head than they gave for them. Or perhaps put them in the feedlot and say a little prayer. Or keep them at home and grow them bigger so they can make believe they got their money back.
Did you know that 92% of women do not like their husbands female friends, but 92% of men like their wives female friends. Does that mean men are nicer?
I asked my Mom if I was adopted? She laughed and said, “Why would I choose you?”
My wife got out of the shower walked into the bedroom naked and said, “Close the curtains, I don’t want the neighbors to see me naked.” I said, “Don’t worry if they look over here I’m sure they will close their curtains.”
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 and grew up on his family’s ranch near Slapout, Oklahoma.
