What an interesting business we are in, particularly the cattle business.
I was talking to a very smart man about 10 years ago who was not in the cattle business but very successful in the oil business. He said to me, “Well, you wouldn’t lose money on cattle ever when investing that much money would you?”
This is probably the mindset of a lot of city folk. They basically have no idea that a person would borrow that much money with that much risk just to try to make a living. Don’t get me wrong, I like the business as long as we can keep it where we have a fighting chance to survive. Ask any banker I have dealt with and he would probably say that I’m not smart enough to be scared.
Even from a very young age I have loved the challenge of trying to figure out what the best buy was in the cattle business. But there are days that can sure be challenging and you have to question your mentality.
Today the banking industry has changed so much in the past five to 10 years. In my opinion, it used to be if you had a good reputation and was a hard worker and honest you could easily get a loan. Particularly if you had a good net worth. Today it is different. It mostly depends on cash flow and credit score. If you lose money for two or three years, then how do you show cash flow? At that point the only word that most bankers know is sell.
I fear what I see in our government right now could someday translate into what political party you are associated with as to whether you could get a loan or not.
My grandson said to his dad, “How come most of your hair is black but you have a few little hairs that are white?” My son said to his son, “Well, the reason is that every time you do something bad or making me unhappy it turns one hair white.”
Then his son thought about it for a while and said, “Is that the reason that all grandpa’s hair is white?”
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.
