Riding Herd Saying things that need to be said. June 15, 2022 • www.aaalivestock.com
Volume 64 • No. 6
Cowboy Checkers LEE PITTS
A
s a kid I frequently played checkers with my genius older brother who graduated #3 in his class from West Point and then went to MIT. Needless to say, I NEVER beat my brother. The only concession I insisted upon was that I got the red checkers, red being my favorite color. It’s a lot like ranchers who still insist on raising red cattle when they know that blacks almost always “win.” A statistician or theorist might conclude that I lost because I chose red and that if I really wanted to win I should have chosen the black checkers. But I didn’t lose at checkers because I chose red, I got beat because my brother is smarter than me. According to a recent survey of feedlot managers we are witnessing the same phenomenon in the cattle business. Research confirms that black-hided feeder cattle generally receive premiums ranging from $1.80 to more than $4 per cwt compared to other hide-color lots sold at auction. But is hide color really a reliable measure of an animal’s worth? According to a vast majority of feedlot managers determining the merits of a fatted calf by the outer one-eighth of an inch of hide is a poor way to determine the value of a carcass.
Full Disclosure
NEWSPAPER PRIORITY HANDLING
First of all, I should admit my bias. Angus breeders should know that I’m not “taking a shot at them” in this story. Every Grand Champion steer I owned came from a registered Angus ranch and when I invested in my first breeding stock I bought
registered Angus cattle. Keep in mind that this was at a time when Angus cattle were definitely NOT the hot item they are today. Later my commercial cow herd would be largely Angus. So, Angus breeders, be
Red Angus CEO Tom Brink, “was to gather information, opinions and attitudes about how cattle feeders view the emphasis on color in the feeder cattle and calf market.” There were 252 respondents and 85
When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
patient with me and read all the way to the end and you’ll realize that the Black Angus breed will also be better off if we move away from hide color as a way of establishing value.
Who’s Who? Beginning in October 2021 and finishing in February of this year, the Red Angus Association surveyed cattle feeders and other beef industry participants via phone and email and asked them to respond to eight simple statements. “The objective of the survey,” according to the
percent of the total were cattle feeders. The others were order buyers, auction managers or industry experts. The combined feeding capacity they own and/ or manage exceeds 5.4 million head, representing between 35 percent and 40 percent of the industry’s aggregate capacity. Feedlots ranged in size from 1,000 to over 100,000 head and the average feedlot size was 28,130 head. The survey data that was gathered was then analyzed by Tom Brink, CEO, Red Angus Association, Dr. Elliott Dennis,
Saving the Last Cattle Drive: Victory at Last! SOURCE: MOUNTAIN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION
T
he ranchers and cowboys who ride Wyoming’s Upper Green River Drift offer a living connection to the history of the West. But several radical environmentalist groups and their lawyers tried to shut down America’s most historic remaining cattle drive. They filed a lawsuit in federal court (Center for Biological Diversity v. Haaland), hoping to ban ranchers from this historic range land. On May 17, 2022 United States District Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal dismissed the case. As a result, these hard-working ranchers ride with the knowledge that their next cattle drive is on the horizon. The Green River Drift cattle drive takes place every year on one of the most storied and dramatic landscapes of the American West. On the very edge of the Continental Divide, it unfolds like a scene from one of Hollywood’s classic Westerns. There, among the high desert mesas of the Bridger-Teton National Forest, cowboys drive several thousand head of cattle back to their ranches, over some of the most splendid country there ever was. The route and manner of the cattle drive are largely unchanged since the 1800’s, and it is operated by the descendants of the families of continued on page 4
Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Dr. Derrell Peel, Charles Breedlove Professor of Agribusiness, Oklahoma State University and Dr. Ted Schroeder, University Distinguished Professor, Kansas State University. All are highly respected in the livestock industry.
And The Survey Says... The survey made eight simple statements and then asked those responding whether they agreed or disagreed. The first statement was: “Hide color significantly affects prices paid for different groups of U.S. feeder cattle.” A whopping 95 percent said they agreed, two percent said they were unsure and the remaining three percent said they disagreed. Statement #2: “Black-hided feeder cattle and calves frequently bring a higher price than non-black-hided cattle of equal weight, quality, sex and health history.” Again, a whopping majority (94 percent) agreed, three percent were unsure and three percent disagreed. Statement #3” “Black-hided feeder cattle are superior to noncontinued on page 2 black cattle of equal weight, sex
Ukraine Crisis Reveals the Folly of Organic Farming As food prices skyrocket, the world needs to admit it can’t live without modern, efficient agriculture. BY BJORN LOMBORG / WALL STREET JOURNAL
T
he energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine disabused many politicians of the notion that the world could make a swift transition to green energy powered by solar, wind and wishful thinking. As food prices skyrocket and the conflict threatens a global food crisis, we need to face another unpopular reality: Organic farming is ineffective, land hungry and very expensive, and it would leave billions hungry if it were embraced world-wide. For years, politicians and the chattering classes have argued that organic farming is the responsible way to feed the world. The European Union pushed last year for members roughly to triple organic farming by 2030. Influential nonprofits have long promoted organic farming to developing nations, causing fragile countries like Sri Lanka to invest in such methods. In the West, many consumers have been won over: About half the population of Germany believes that organic farming can fight global hunger. The rise in food prices—buoyed by incontinued on page 4
by LEE PITTS
Losing Ground
E
ver since I subscribed to my first livestock periodical at the age of 15, my favorite section to read has always been the ranch real estate ads because to me, dirt is the secret to prosperity and happiness. Land is a much better investment than cattle because land doesn’t run away or die from anaplasmosis. I’ve always dreamed of owning my own ranch, one that would pencil out and could be paid for with the cattle I raised. Alas, I’m 70 years old and the only land I’ve ever owned is under my house and on the bottom of my boots. Along the way I used up a lot of Ticonderoga #2 pencils trying to find a place that would pay for itself. I used a variety of formulas to find a ranch that would “pencil,” such as the ranch should be worth twice the value of the cattle it would carry. The only place I ever found that penciled out was in the Malpais borderlands that would starve a saguaro cactus to death. It was also on the Mexican border and I’m glad I didn’t pull the trigger on that deal because it’s now a jumping-off point for illegal aliens and drug smugglers. No wonder it was what’s known in the trade as “an oleo ranch”... a cheap spread. Okay, I admit I did place a couple parameters that made it harder to find a place of my own. Although I absolutely love places like Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming and Nebraska, I’m a bit of a weenie and could never survive their winters. I also didn’t want a public lands ranch because that would mean I’d have the government for a landlord and I’d rather be boiled alive, have recurring kidney stones, or be kicked in the groin, than to have that band of misfits, crooks, weirdos, freaks and screwballs in Washington DC have such control over me. By the way, according to the infamous western figure, Tom Horn, being kicked in the groin is one way to gain ground. “You want some land,” he asked, “I’ll kick you in the @#$%& and you’ll have a couple achers.” (At the age of 43 Horn acquired his own plot of ground in Boulder, Colorado, after he was hung for allegedly killing a kid.)
continued on page 3