With virtually every segment of the cattle market at all-time high price levels, it’s only natural to start looking for what can go wrong. After all, this is agriculture and ranchers are a lot more comfortable with bad news than good news.

Troy Marshall 2, BEEF Contributing Editor

April 8, 2011

1 Min Read
Now It Mostly All Comes Down To Rain

With virtually every segment of the cattle market at all-time high price levels, it’s only natural to start looking for what can go wrong. After all, this is agriculture and ranchers are a lot more comfortable with bad news than good news.

We’re pretty darned good at dealing with adversity, but a little uncomfortable with prosperity. Admittedly, record prices don’t equate to profitability, as we have record high production costs as well.

Certainly, there is a point where consumers will say “no more” from a retail-price standpoint. And, while many are construing the latest corn stocks number (which was unchanged) as a positive sign, the world is a very uncertain place – just saying the words “Middle East” raises all kinds of uncertainty.

Of course, there are outside forces that could make things even better as well. China could open up and become a major importer of our product; and debates over ethanol could forge a coalition of consumers, environmentalists and political ideologies to put an end to the ethanol subsidy. Those aren’t likely to happen anytime soon, but if they did every rancher in the country would be driving new trucks and contemplating sending their kids to Harvard.

Back to reality, however, barring some major outside force, conditions are aligned for some great times.

About the Author(s)

Troy Marshall 2

BEEF Contributing Editor

Troy Marshall is a multi-generational rancher who grew up in Wheatland, WY, and obtained an Equine Science/Animal Science degree from Colorado State University where he competed on both the livestock and World Champion Horse Judging teams. Following college, he worked as a market analyst for Cattle-Fax covering different regions of the country. Troy also worked as director of commercial marketing for two breed associations; these positions were some of the first to provide direct links tying breed associations to the commercial cow-calf industry.

A visionary with a great grasp for all segments of the industry, Troy is a regular opinion contributor to BEEF Cow-Calf Weekly. His columns are widely reprinted and provide in-depth reporting and commentary from the perspective of a producer who truly understands the economics and challenges of the different industry segments. He is also a partner/owner in Allied Genetic Resources, a company created to change the definition of customer service provided by the seedstock industry. Troy and his wife Lorna have three children. 

Subscribe to Our Newsletters
BEEF Magazine is the source for beef production, management and market news.

You May Also Like