Usually, when businesses buy and sell inventory, one of three things happens. Under option one, the item sells for more than it was purchased for and one has the opportunity to make money. The second is the break-even option. This is when an item sells for the same as the purchase price.

Boy, talk about market volatility. The corn acreage report came out last Tuesday. USDA said there were 2 million more acres planted than they originally thought and bam, July corn dropped 30 cents to $3.47. The same day, live cattle dropped $2.10. But the good news, for many of our readers,

The first set of cows averaged just more than 1,400 pounds at spring turnout on crested wheatgrass. They are part of a study involving cropping rotations and range systems harvested by grazing cow/calf pairs and early weaned calves. The second set of cows averaged 1,060 pounds when turned on crested wheatgrass this spring.

As far as I can tell the debate over global warming was never finished. There still seems to be disagreement over whether or not its even a problem, but Congress is working on major legislation hoping to do something about it. For every scientist that endorses the concept of climate change there is one that disputes it.

Get em in the truck, slam the door, wait for the check. How much planning goes into your cattle marketing? Across the country, it varies from long-term contract holders to those who cut out a few head now and then to pay bills. Either extreme can leave money on the table.

The cattle business is a profession that requires considerable education and experience. In other words, the managerial inputs need to be well thought out so that the ramifications or consequence of doing or not doing something has the desired outcome.

As far as I can tell the debate over global warming was never finished. There still seems to be disagreement over whether or not it’s even a problem. But, Congress is working on major legislation hoping to do something about it. For every scientist that endorses the concept of climate change there is one that disputes it. The evidence used to justify climate change is equal to a nanosecond of geologic time.

There is a lot of legislation concerning agriculture circulating in Washington, D.C. I dont think I have ever seen so many issues that would have a direct effect on agriculture being worked on at one time: The Clean Water Restoration Act, which just passed out of the Senate committe on

Demand for beef is down. Can you blame the recession? Not entirely, but its a darned inconvenient coincidence. Its hard to argue that beef quality was too low, because production of every class of premium beef has been trending up for some time.

The beef business never has been short on opinions. Good opinions and the willingness to share those opinions are the core to any dynamic, independent business. For beef producers, independence is manifested in the concept, I need to get the work done.