October 5, 2021 | Vol. 14 : No. 9
Agricultural economists say that short-term disruptions in the fed-cattle and beef industries have not changed longer-term motivations for how buyers and sellers establish prices for cattle.
One of the saddest quotes I know is from Oliver Wendell Holmes; “Many people die with their music still in them.” We all have grand intentions, but if we are honest, our expectations and our results don’t always seem to line up. The two most common reasons are opposite sides of the same coin: we either don’t have a plan, or we spend so much time planning and waiting for the right conditions that we fail to act. While we all want to finish with no regrets, we often hope we can get there without much pain. In reality, the choice is between the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.
The Animal Agriculture Alliance released a report detailing observations from the Farmed Animal Conference E-Summit hosted virtually Aug. 2-8. The event was organized and hosted by California-based animal sanctuary Animal Place, which advocates for a vegan lifestyle.
The key claims and takeaways from this virtual event included the following: people within positions of wealth and power need to put both their personal and professional resources toward working on behalf of animals; the animal-rights movement allegedly would be decades behind their current status without sharing “graphic” content as promotional tools; activists need to focus on aquaculture and push for federal legislation to protect aquatic species from supposed animal cruelty; and people need to move away from animal products completely.
Marketing is a process having three components: determination of price, determination of a buyer and the actual transfer of ownership. When a cow-calf producer markets a set of calves through a sale barn, all three of those things happen at the same time. It’s the simplest marketing method available to cattle producers. According to Oklahoma State University economist Derrell Peel, the cash market offers the highest return potential but provides no opportunity for price risk management. What bothers Peel is that so many producers have made the local auction their default marketing method.
Recently I noticed a Facebook post about a bottle of water. The water bottle’s size and the brand are the same. The only difference is where the water bottle sits at the time of purchase. That bottle of water nestled in a pack of 24 sitting at your local grocer is 50¢ cents each. At an airport that very same bottle of water is sold individually for $5. At a high school football game, it may be sold for $2. The Facebook post was emphasizing “know your worth” and surround yourself with people who value and appreciate you.
The fall run of calves is here, and effects of weather conditions are being seen. Larger volumes of smaller animals are being marketed in northern and western regions of the country. These are areas most affected by drought and with limited forage. Marketings in the South and East have been slower as, with the exception of high temperatures, weather conditions have been more favorable for animal growth. Weather is and will clearly play a role as to the timing and availability of calf numbers.
