Full-Service Cattle Sales & Marketing serving the Fallon, Nevada and Outlying Areas.

SALE EVERY WEDNESDAY

Begins at 12:00

2020….sometimes you need to pinch yourself to make sure you aren’t having a bad dream. Everyone you talk to says, “Sure hope things get back to normal soon”. Looking forward to some normalcy myself, but necessary changes don’t usually happen when things are normal. If normal is working your tail off raising a calf crop 12 to 18 months just to break even, then I am tired of normal. The meat shortage brought about by COVID-19 sure opened some eyes. Let’s be sure to keep up the momentum by positive change.

There is a referendum circulating now to repeal The Beef Checkoff. Continue to keep an eye on that as there soon should be a petition available that will need your signature in order to gain legitimacy and pass. I know there are some who are all-in on beef promotion and think it’s great. I’m not going to argue it does seem like a good idea, but John Campbell (Winter Livestock, LaJunta, CO) famously said, “A rancher paying to promote beef is like a cotton farmer paying for underwear advertisements.” It;s been said that the beef promotion is really working, just look a the price of beef at the store. The problem is the guy paying to promote that beef isn’t’ getting his share of the market. Like NCBA’s vice president of government affairs, Ethan Lane, said in a CNBC interview, “We failed to realize those gains in the live cattle and feeder cattle sectors”. We damn sure failed alright. We paid $1.00 per head on millions of cattle and the $0.50 that stays in the state most likely is put to beneficial use. The $0.50 that goes to Washington to pay for the fancy officers and crooked lobbyists is the reason so many of us are fed up. We strongly feel our money is not working for us because it is in the wrong hands.

When the B was added to NCA and it became NCBA, things went to hell in a hurry. I see NCBA as having four wives. There are three broke wives: Mrs. Rancher, Mrs. Stocker and Mrs. Feeder. One wife is filthy rich, Mrs Packer. Now ask yourself who is Mr. NC”B”A going to help out first? That’s right, probable the ones that gross 300 billion a year. That’s $300,000,000,000! I think with that kind of money laying around the Big 4 can pay to promote their own beef. And with that kind of money to lobby politicians, it is pretty easy to see why NCBA has thrown the cow/calf, stocker and feeder to the wolves. In my opinion we have to stop accepting break-even prices as “normal” and figure out how to survive. Let’s keep these ranches intact, add to them if possible, and hand them off to the next generation.

WATCH FOR A CALF POOL SALE IN LATE FALL!!

Call Jack Payne for more information.

Have a great day and we look forward to seeing you soon