Say what you want about the “Yellowstone” phenomenon, but we might need it in the near future for a reason we may not have thought about yet. My eyes were opened last week by an experience, and it sheds light on our current market situation from a different angle and I feel compelled to share it with you.
“Yellowstone” aired on Paramount in 2018 and since then, the western way of life has been viewed in a different light. I constantly hear about “new money” coming into ranch real estate, the horse market and various other industries people are chasing. Many of these people felt sparked by the romance of agriculture from their viewing of this show, albeit its exaggerated accuracy and factual portrayal of real life. Not all of us are multi-generational multi-millionaires, and if we are, my father and grandfather have some explaining to do to me! But in a more serious tone, it can’t be denied that the western way of life has a newfound fondness, and we might need that in the not-so-distant future.
Many of you know I have three small kids, aged 11, 7 and 3. Near our home is a small reservoir that feeds our valley irrigation water, but as most reservoirs do, also provides entertainment for the masses. There’s a small state park in a grove of trees along the banks with scattered grill sites, picnic tables and a small beach. It’s a quiet little place but perfect for our little family to run up there, spend some time in the water and cook dinner. We planned to go up there for Sunday dinner last week but were running low on supplies, so I ran into town and bought groceries for two nights’ dinners.
I didn’t over shop and didn’t buy anything unnecessary. Like most husbands, we buy our wives a beverage of choice, and I even left that off my list. I do grocery shopping from time to time, so I felt confident I had placed $40-50 worth of groceries in the cart. I was rung up for $92!! It literally paused me. How could I be so far off? I gathered my composure and asked the clerk that I guessed to be in her mid-60s, “What percentage of people say something about the prices?”
I’m not sure I’ll ever get over her answer. With a look of dejection, she replied, “They all say something. I’ve been here for five hours today and there hasn’t been a single person not say something. It’s been happening for weeks. I try to tell them about our coupons, but no one ever hears. It wouldn’t be so bad, but it’s the people who break down and start crying that hurts me the most.”
Picture yourself shopping for groceries and having the register price bring you to tears in front of a complete stranger. This is happening right now more often than we think. Earlier this summer, I talked a lot about volatility. As a consumer just trying to buy enough groceries to feed a family and crying over the price, what does that show for confidence they have with their current state of affairs?
My point in this is that we as a ranching community are generally humble people. We don’t boast. As John F. Kennedy famously said, “I know of no pursuit in which more real and important services can be rendered to any country than by improving its agriculture, its breed of useful animals, and other branches of a husbandman’s care.” With the cost of groceries skyrocketing like everything else, how will it be perceived when the “soccer mom” consumer hears of record-high beef prices? How will that look to them?
I worry about the perception we could receive when in reality, weHAVE to have a record year for many of us just to keep ranching. None of us want to be the reason a single mom starts crying at a grocery store. She probably isn’t thinking that it’sOK because rancher Bob needs her money too. What we as ranchers do need to be thinking about is how we are going to respond when we get those questions asked in our direction.My proactive approach is to be ready with why higher prices are important for commerce, the environment, byproducts, the way-of-life and so on.
The newfound fondness for our way of life that “Yellowstone” and its spinoff shows may have provided a place for our advocacy that we didn’t know we needed. I only use the show as an example, but the point stays the same. Appreciation and understanding of ranching will be so important in the future. We simply need this good market run to last a while and hope our consumers will agree with us on that. — LOGAN IPSEN
