Let The Good Times Roll for Beef Producers
The stars have finally aligned for cattle producers. I’m Susan Allen welcome to today’s Open Range I’ll be back with the good news. It’s about time, yes I am pleased to say the world economy, feed prices, exports and cattle numbers have created a climate for the US cattle market to flourish. And while this is great news for our ranchers, consumers might not be too thrilled when they see the prices they will be paying in restaurants and at the grocery store this coming summer. My advise don’t whine and don’t you be switching to chicken, think of it this way, when you pay a tad more money for a rib steak brought to you courtesy of American rancherr, remember how many years it has been since that segment of agriculture has had their day in the sun. Lately, seems everytime I am in the check out line I'm asked to donate to some cause. Well by paying a bit more for meat I’m helping our cattle producers stay strong in a competitive global economy. How long will the good times last? Hard to tell, but some industry economists like Chris Hurt from Purdue are predicting record high prices of beef for the summer grilling season. There's good news as well on the export front as our top competitors, the big three; Brazil, Australia and New Zealand were down 23 percent while here in the good old USA, in contrast the first two months of the year our beef exports were up about the same margin at twenty four percent. If you raise cattle my advice is to make hay while the sun shines. I’m Susan Allen
