We’re just about to the point where we’re going to have full contact politics. This race for presidency is going to be interesting, to say the least. It really does get down to an ideology and voting for the man who possesses the same ideals you do. And the way I see it, it’s a simple choice who our next president should be.

Any time you see the futures markets trade limit down, on all contracts, inside of an hour, you know something went wrong, very wrong. It doesn’t happen all that much but did last Tuesday morning when traders got news that a cow was found in California with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and then the panic sell was on.

The boxed beef cutout value had a nice rally last week, up about $7, and it brought fed cattle values up a little bit with it. Still, the weak aspect of the market is slaughter level. The industry needs to start processing cattle in the mid 600,000-head range and get this summer demand going.

The news of lean finely textured beef (LFTB) did have some influence on beef markets and the attitude of consumers. However, beef trade had been lackluster prior to that episode. Many market watchers have been waiting for grilling season to get underway, hoping that the seasonal trend would light up the beef markets.

This episode with Beef Products Inc. (BPI) is a real tragedy. Last week, BPI shut down three of their four plants and temporarily laid of 650 people at those plants. It’s amazing that an elite segment of the general media was willing to throw them under the bus, espe- CROW.

They’re back! The celebrity foodies have selected Lean Finely Textured Beef (LFTB) as their next target. It’s remarkable how fame can provide credibility to folks who have no idea what they are talking about. They do their damage and then they simply walk away.

It’s still a little early to talk about the weather, but my latest travels through the Intermountain West suggest we could see a dry spring. We went to bull sales in Wyoming and Montana last week and the dry weather was on everyone’s mind, although they didn’t want to talk about it, think.

You love them when they’re long and then you hate them when they short the market. Big money funds can swing a lot of dollars around in commodities futures trading, and with live cattle and feeder cattle contracts that typically have low trading volume, it makes it that much CROW.

It’s remarkable that fed cattle are flirting with a $130 market and it’s not enough for cattle feeders to be profitable. Market analysts are projecting that fed cattle will find a top value somewhere around $137 and it should come sometime in the next 60 days.

Last week’s fed cattle trade reports hinted at a shortage of cattle and had discussion of cattle feeders not backing up market ready cattle, which some analysts say is creating a marketing problem. When packers pay $5-6 more for cattle, they simply need the cattle, so the idea that we have too many CROW.