The election is over, thank God! Each general election seems to be a more enduring process every time. Or perhaps I pay too much attention to them? But, Obama won another four years and, like it or not, we will have to adjust and learn to tolerate.

One of the emails on my computer Wednesday after the election read, “Obama wins, Financials Dive.” The DOW index dropped 303 points the day after the election. I took it as a confirmation that investors have little confidence in the president’s fiscal policies.

Snow is starting to fly and winter is just around the corner. By now, most of you all should have your winter feed secured so you can keep that valuable cow herd intact. It’s going to be tough if you haven’t got your plan figured out.

In the latest Beef Quality Audit that the Beef Board and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) produced, they learned that we haven’t done a good job communicating beef production methods. The audit said we need to be more transparent to our customers so they have complete confidence in beef products.

I heard today on the radio that 25 percent of the young people in this country are not eligible for the armed services. Twenty-five percent wouldn’t pass basic boot camp because they are physically unable, according to the report. We sure are hearing a lot about obesity these days in the news and it seems the meddlers.

It seems that responsible news reporting is becoming a thing of the past. You expect to see bias news junk on the web in various blogs, but the large national news organizations like NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN and FOX news have a responsibility to get the story right, simply because they consid.

There’s that word again, sustainable, which has a different meaning to everyone. The Sustainable Beef Resource Center (SBRC) just released its interpretation of sustainable, which seems more like a justification for beef industry growth promotants to enhance.

Japan banned U.S. beef products just after our first BSE case back in 2003. They took until 2005 to start importing beef from cattle under 21 months.

After cogitating over the last cattle on feed report, something seemed a little odd. We’re in the middle of a widespread drought, pastures are scrubbed clean, and you would think there would be some early weaning going on with calves going into grow lots or feedlots.

The latest Cattle on Feed report showed that cattle placed into feedlots was 10 percent lower than a year ago, but it’s a little misleading since there were a lot of cattle placed last year because of the drought in the southern plains.