Under the Wire

Call it perspective if you will. Some might call it having your head in the sand or in some other very dark place. Didn’t see that coming. Seriously? How could I not have seen it?

This past year, being in the possession of a few old mama cows has been a pretty enjoyable experience. Even though they seem to stay up nights thinking of ways to annoy those of us assigned to care for them, there have been considerable pluses to owning some lately. Namely, it is profitable.

For those of you whose lives don’t revolve around the value of an old cow and her occasional offspring, let me first say I envy you. You may not worry that cattle numbers nationwide are at a cyclical low. Likewise, you may not be aware that the demand for beef from an exploding world population has increased. The result has been somewhat better prices for the calves these cantankerous four-legged dictators provide us with.

I will be the first to admit, it has been nice. My banker is nice to me, even talks about his cows, too. Sue is able to pay most of our bills, a luxury being married to a cattleman hasn’t always made possible. Hauling off old number 34 who gave us a calf each of the past 12 years wasn’t even sad when the check from the sale barn arrived. “We have the world by it’s tail,” I began to think. Then it happened.

Part of the unexpectedly good income we have enjoyed has come from the sale of a couple of old bulls who needed to be replaced. A few weeks ago we slipped off to a bull sale, like most, held in an out-of-the-way corner of the world few not in the cattle business have even heard of. When we pulled in, their yard resembled a Walmart parking lot on a Friday afternoon. The ratio of buyers to bulls leaned heavily towards the bulls and their owner’s favor. Then it began to soak into my little, pre-occupied brain. While we had been enjoying selling calves last fall, bulls and cull cows this winter and spring, our good friends the bull sellers had been patiently waiting their turn.

Let’s just say when the parking lot began to empty at the end of the day, our friends were smiling.

We were thrilled for them. In order for any industry to survive, everyone has to do their fair share. I must admit, though, it is more fun to be a seller than a buyer.

That’s the way it goes. When it comes to dollars, a lot of it went.