| Our Side of the Fence |
March 2009 07/24/09 4:56:18 PM
comments from Mar 9 Our Side of the Fence By Justin Angell
The light at the end of the tunnel that I see is green-green grass. That's right, we are almost to the point of the year when the chance of winter weather diminishes every day. Each day is one day closer to true spring. Doesn't it just seem like 75% of the people are convinced that the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train and the only reason they are in the tunnel in the first place is because they are afraid the sky is falling? Well I've got a lot of bad news that I could talk about but unlike our government officials, instead of talking us into a depression, I'm gonna try and talk us out of depression. Although feedlot close outs remain bloody, the cattle we are selling are for the most part showing incredible resilience. The lower total cattle inventory has to be the reason markets are holding up nationally. Locally exceptional calf and yearling quality, health programs and some of the best buyers in the Mid West have pushed our Friday market well above normal breakeven prices. In our last two special yearling and program calf sales we sold almost 6000 head. After each sale I had at least 3 order buyers make special phone calls to let me know how impressed they were with the sale – especially the quality and condition of the cattle. I'll pass this complement on to you because you, the producer is due the credit and the compliment. Normally by this time of the year we would have sold several hundred cows and bred heifers through the ring but this year there is once again a noticeable decline in the volume of good cows and bred heifers. Over the next few months we have a few quality consignments lined up on females as well as a few pending consignments we are still working on, so keep in touch. Some day the walking solar energy converters that we call cows will be very valuable and perhaps even fashionable again. Don’t for get set the Evening of Tuesday April the seventh aside to join us for our annual bull sale. Light grass cattle are moving well with the Oklahoma wheat greening up as you read this. One good development for our cow calf area is occurring in SW Missouri. The trend there is the continued liquidation of their cow herds. After the last three challenging winters down there it seems the people are deciding that growing stockers is easier and even more profitable than feeding cows year round. Double stocking pastures, former cow men can sell 600 feeders a year where the same resources have traditionally raised 200 calves to sell. The calf buyers from that area are already reaching out to our area to buy calves. Every bidder helps. Another bit of good news has to do with a change to our tax code. Apparently the new head of the IRS thinks it’s ok to only pay the taxes that we want, at least that is the way he apparently paid his taxes. If you happen to get audited it is called the “Geithner Exemption.” It might not be really an "official" exemption but I bet from here on out there will be a lot of disgruntled American taxpayers using it. Talk about change in Washington D.C. We used to call people that committed tax evasion criminals – now we might give them a title, like maybe, Mr. Secretary of the Treasury of the United States of America. As for my opinion of "change"... Sometimes change is bad. More good news? How 'bout this… At the Audrain County Cattleman's meeting a week ago Saturday, I was talking to Kurt Hollenburg who is an area real estate agent. Kurt told me that he had 2 potential buyers that wanted to buy spec houses in Columbia for their kids to live in while attending MU. Regardless of what the news will lead you to believe he couldn't find any spec houses in the under $200,000 range. We have to remember that nationally the housing boom peaked in the fall of 2005. Although the cost and the Las Vegas type areas are severely over built most of the country is in good shape. We all know the nation has challenges to overcome. There have been many times I've worried about my children's future in this country with what I consider the erosion by our pop culture of everything good and Godly in America. When I read Sierra's article this month I had several sudden realizations. The first was that my 1st student's ability and intellect has exceeded that of her 1st teacher. I also gained a realization that I need not ever worry again about her future in this nation because she and her sisters are the future of this nation. Although I am exceedingly proud of Sierra individually I've come to understand that she is not alone - we are raising hundreds of thousands of great kids in this good nation. America is great because America is good.
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