I suppose big problems require big solutions, at least that?s what the political world seems to think. Seven hundred eighty-nine billion dollars for an economic stimulus bill that is built on a hope and a prayer is pretty amazing. This piece of wisdom passed in less than a week without any real debate.

CBB assigned a subcommittee the responsibility of coming up with a plan to streamline the organization and come up with a strategy for passing a new referendum which would increase the assessment to $2 and allow it to be increased later to $3. The task force asked nearly all producer groups to make comment on better ways for CBB to function.

Perhaps I spoke too soon regarding Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL). The Obama administration decided to suspend any final rulemaking decisions and implementation of rules that have not been implemented.

Cattle processing has been a bit short of expectations so far this year. Two weeks ago, packers processed only 608,000 head and last week, it looked like it would be somewhere around 620,000 head. The reduced production is almost always an effort to raise boxed beef values and improve margins and it generally works.

Last week, the final rule was published for mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL); the deed is done and packers are required to label product. Proponents of COOL won the war. Price differentials have been discovered with Canadian and Mexican cattle.

This is generally when we do the top 10 stories of the past year. I thought we might try and change that and look at what could be the top issues for the next year. Its clear that change is in the wind and I would expect the wind to start blowing Jan. 20 when President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in.

For purebred breeders and commercial cattlemen who sold calves early, it has been a pretty good year. Looking ahead is filled with a lot of uncertainty, but one thing about the food business is that there is always a market. I dont know how many purebred breeders have asked me its been a lothow I thought the bull market was going to be this next year.

It was announced last week that the new secretary of Interior will be Sen. Ken Salazar, D-CO. Prior to the announcement, it seemed that he wasnt even a candidate. On the surface, he seems okay for the cattle business, given his background. Salazar, former Colorado attorney general, grew up in the cattle and farming business.

He is always there, hes always reliable, and is truly a friend of the National Western Stock Show (NWSS). Virgil Holtgrewe has been a familiar face at NWSS for more than 40 years and has actively volunteered his time for 20 of those years helping guests, exhibitors and management put on the granddaddy of all livestock shows.

Packers realized they were offered an easy way of dealing with the new label requirements. As one would expect, packers have taken the path of least resistance and plan to use the catch-all label, Product of Canada, Mexico and USA. Well call it the North American label.