by Ken Root
Listen Here: Profit Matters 2-7-17
The Cattle Business has seen record profits and record losses in the past six years. An economist sees it as a new market today in more normal times. There has been a rally since last fall, but the futures market shows a sharp drop ahead.
We have seen a change in the cattle markets over the last few years, says Randy Blach, CEO of CattleFax. He spoke with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays recently during the National Cattlemen?s Beef Association Convention in Nashville.
?You think about our markets from 2009 to 2014,? he said. ?Our markets went up 117 percent and then preceded to break 45 percent.
Blach says with recorded figures like these, we as an industry need to pause a moment and ask ourselves if what we are seeing now is a different market environment than anything we?ve seen historically. With an industry that has become dramatically global in scale, and a rising uncertainty of what the future of our nation?s trading policy has in store, he suggests there is ample room for reflection on where we are at and how to strategically move forward from this point on.
?That?s why I think we?re in such interesting times,? Blach commented. ?I think we have to have an open mind. These markets have changed and I?ve reflected on it a lot because we?ve all learned so much in the last three years.?
