Latest / CattleUSA Daily / 179: Cattle Market Update and the Fight for Producer Independence with John Campbell

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179: Cattle Market Update and the Fight for Producer Independence with John Campbell · CattleUSA Daily

0:00
In today's episode with John Campbell, we are breaking down
0:03
the cattle markets that we have been seeing across to the winter
0:07
livestock family in Lahana and just across the nation this
0:10
week. It has been a little bit of a
0:12
wild week in the market world and the cattle market world and
0:16
the auction world, all of it. We've been seeing some crazy
0:18
numbers and John touches on all of those things and kind of his
0:22
thoughts on why we're seeing that and what is causing it.
0:26
And then we go into our current events topic.
0:28
John is giving his thoughts and opinions on just the vertical
0:33
integration that we have seen across the food supply, beef,
0:38
beef supply, packing industries, everything John is.
0:43
John is touching on a lot today. As far as all of that goes,
0:47
about halfway through this podcast, we start breaking all
0:50
of that down. John shares his candid thoughts
0:52
on all of it as a producer, as an auction manager, and
0:56
everything else in between. And we have a really great
0:59
discussion on what all of that means, what that looks like.
1:02
And then I touch on at the end, what you can be doing as a
1:05
producer, that if you have an opinion or a thought after John
1:08
and I's conversation, what you can do for next steps after
1:12
listening to this podcast more than just walking down the
1:14
street and talking to the guys at the coffee shop.
1:16
So without further ado, let's go ahead and get into this podcast
1:20
episode with John. And if you guys could take a
1:21
second to like subscribe, rate and review this podcast, we
1:24
would really appreciate it here at the team.
1:26
It helps continue to grow and reach more people.
1:28
And if you enjoyed today's podcast, share it with a friend.
1:30
We appreciate that as well and love reaching new people
1:33
whenever we can. So without further ado, let's
1:35
hear from John. Welcome to the Cattle USA Daily
1:41
Podcast, your go to source for the latest livestock markets,
1:45
industry insights and the updates shaping agriculture
1:48
today. I'm your host, Lauren Moylan, a
1:50
passionate advocate for agriculture here to keep you
1:53
informed and connected. Now let's dive into today's
1:56
episode. John, welcome back to the
2:05
podcast. How has the market been with
2:08
this week? How did everything go in Lahana
2:10
the other day? How's that?
2:11
We're talking on Thursday today. This will go out tomorrow on
2:14
Friday for all of our audience members.
2:15
But how's everything been looking and feeling out this
2:18
week? You know, it's just about like a
2:20
broken record. It just higher, higher, higher
2:24
every week. And about the time we thought we
2:27
had stalled out what we just this this last week just caught
2:30
another gear. And why I you know, I don't know
2:33
other than it it's a it's a healthy environment to be in and
2:37
in most everybody calling it, you know, I think they put 20
2:41
some dollars 100 on the Commodity Futures and that
2:44
reflected over into why cripesy on some of these little light
2:48
cabs. I'll tell you about it later,
2:50
but spots 20 thirty, $40 a hundred higher.
2:54
So really, really good. We had a little better run about
2:58
2700 And now next Monday we will start our special calf sales and
3:04
we should have 5000 calves or more here on Monday, a dedicated
3:09
day just exclusively to calves and we'll roll through them
3:14
pretty fast. It's a load lot sale and and
3:16
seems like the sellers like getting out of here at a decent
3:19
time and I know the know the tires.
3:21
Do you know, and then we'll follow Tuesday with any little,
3:25
you know, cows, bulls or oddballs or something like that.
3:28
So but a little light steer cabs this week.
3:32
You know, you call them better. Excuse me, 75 to 635.
3:38
The big heavy steer cabs kind of 450 to five O 7.
3:42
We had some little four way to heifer cabs to 560 on it.
3:49
Just unbelievable, or rather 4 weight steer cabs, pardon me, up
3:53
to 560. The little lightweight heifer
3:55
cabs, that's what I thought was just amazing.
3:58
Twenty 30-40 bucks, 100 higher. I mean we're talking over $100 a
4:04
head higher than they were a week ago, $5 up to 537.
4:09
Four weight heifer cabs to 494. The big heavy effort Cavs still
4:15
stronger, but not the big up that we saw in the little Cavs.
4:19
But I sure call them 5 to 15 higher, $4.00 up to 453.
4:27
Kind of some representative sales, you know, here's some
4:31
little 400 LB effers at 486, some 420 LB effers at 494.
4:38
We had some leaned 4 weight steer cabs AT555410 at 560, some
4:46
500 LB steers at five O 7. So calf deal really for this
4:52
early, everybody's pretty aggressive and, and and it's up
4:56
and running a little stalker heifers kind of those 550 to 650
5:01
weight, really just a big calf. I thought they were 1015 better.
5:08
Got north of four dollars 415 on some 560 LB effers, some 6
5:15
weight effers crowding right up against $4.00 a pound 393 and
5:21
some big £700 Ball and Heffer calves at 3:44.
5:27
You know, it's amazing, 30 years ago if you had a £500 calf, I
5:32
mean he was a big son of a gun you know.
5:34
And now we're selling calves off the cow.
5:38
Last two weeks we've had several big steer cabs weigh on top of
5:44
£800 off their mother. You know, the day of the sale,
5:49
little stalker stairs, they followed suit Lauren 5 to as
5:54
much as 12 higher kind of $4.00 up to 455.
5:59
We had some 6 weight calves up to 431 steer calves.
6:04
Pretty light test on the Urlins. We're kind of in full calf mode
6:07
now. The Urlins pretty well cleaned
6:09
up but 350 to 364 had some 7 weight balling calves up to that
6:16
were you know have to go to the feed yard but 392 on a a fresh
6:22
calf weighing weighing 7. So I just thought it was great.
6:25
That's been a crazy week. Absolutely.
6:28
Like you said when we started this podcast out right at the
6:31
beginning, like this market is never failing to amaze us this
6:35
year and just the unpredictability of it,
6:38
honestly. Like we did not think last week
6:41
that we were going to be talking about all of these insane
6:43
numbers this week, especially as we're going into calf run and
6:47
getting into busy season as calves start coming down the
6:50
mountain and getting into sale barns and all those things.
6:52
It's just it's wild to see these numbers that we're having.
6:55
What have you seen kind of across other winter livestock
6:58
auctions? We've been able to have a few
7:00
more this week that we can talk about.
7:02
What have what have you seen elsewhere across the region?
7:05
Well, it, it, it goes across these big UPS through our family
7:10
for sure. Dodge City, you know some 5
7:14
weight steer cabs yesterday for 5-10, you know, be right line
7:18
with what we were doing. They had 6 weight cabs up to
7:22
428. So the trend continued to the
7:26
east and little 4 weight effers 482 they sold some £500 effers
7:33
north of four dollars. 409 Pratt sale is today, but even last
7:40
week you know 440 weight stairs at 582, 5 weight stairs at five
7:47
O 5. I mean they they were getting it
7:49
done last Thursday as well. They had some 6 weight stairs at
7:53
six 4400 LB effers at 5:50 a pound and five weight effers at
7:59
470. So we'll see what happens there
8:02
today, but with the big up in the commodities yesterday and
8:06
then that follow through, they've got them higher again
8:09
today. And I can't imagine anything but
8:12
bigger and and and better prices towards the end of the week as
8:16
well. And really we're normally when
8:19
we are this time of year and you have the big temperature swing
8:23
and guys are still really farming and you run into more
8:27
numbers. But there's a week or two
8:28
through the fall, I would say nine years out of 10 where you
8:31
really start to see some pressure because the volumes
8:35
increased ahead of when the farmers are ready and people are
8:38
ready to take them on. But boy, not this year.
8:40
No slow down whatsoever. It's just been better every
8:44
week. What do you think is driving
8:46
that right now this year? I think it's probably some of it
8:50
is a little panic. You know, the market always
8:53
overreacts both to the high side and the low side.
8:58
And, and I'm not saying we're overreacting, but I think
9:03
there's some disciplines in place that guys are thinking,
9:06
man, we got all this moisture. I know we're going to have wheat
9:09
pasture. We got a pile of feed we can't
9:11
throw a rock over. And everybody's talking about
9:15
lower numbers, lower numbers and the numbers are reduced and
9:19
that's motivated to get possession early and kind of get
9:23
started and get going. We've had to step up our
9:26
operation because we think they're going to get higher and
9:28
we're going to run out of them. And like we've mentioned in in
9:32
previous broadcast, boy, they're coming off a huge profit year
9:37
the year before and that's a heck of an incentive to sign me
9:42
up again. Yeah, absolutely.
9:44
And I was talking to Dan yesterday, our guy that talks
9:47
about commodities and he made a really good point that like corn
9:50
prices right now also are in the trash.
9:53
Like every farmer out there is talking about walking their corn
9:58
off rather than trucking it off this year.
10:00
And so kind of what that looks like and how that's going to
10:03
shape our fall and our just demand for feeders and
10:06
everything else as we go into these next few months and even
10:10
into January to see how that's going to shake everything out is
10:13
going to be really interesting to watch as well.
10:15
Yeah, yeah. Great dynamic times for sure.
10:20
Absolutely. It definitely is.
10:22
It's a wild time to be a part of the cattle industry, but hey, we
10:25
wouldn't have it any other way. So on another note, John, what
10:28
do we have for our other topic today?
10:33
We haven't even touched on this. So what do you got for us?
10:35
I know it. I forgot my, I forgot my visual
10:38
aids, but I'll make, I'll make reference to them some people
10:44
deservingly so we need to talk a little bit about, you know, the
10:48
vertical integration that that is really taking place in our
10:53
business. You know, as of 2023, the US has
10:58
became a net importer of food. And it's not that we can't, but
11:04
you know, we've got such a concentration up at the top and
11:08
we've got these big multinational companies that are
11:12
controlling the very high end of the food chain and they can do
11:18
things so much cheaper, outsource production, this
11:21
country, that country, whatever. And it has really led to a
11:27
vertical integration and, and, and we've kind of offshored our
11:32
food supply that, you know, I, I don't think that or oil or
11:37
either 1 is a good thing. And we're, we're really letting
11:41
these huge feud food conglomerates kind of take over
11:45
control. As we've seen over the years of
11:48
our packing industry, over 80% of them is controlled by 4
11:52
companies and the big seem to get bigger.
11:56
And you know, they become so efficient in what they do that
12:01
it leads to this huge amount of concentration of our industry
12:05
because they do do a good job, they are masters.
12:09
But concentration so many times leads to chaos as well when you
12:14
have disruption and you've only got a few people up, up at the
12:19
top. Example would be the Holcomb
12:22
plant fire. You know, what you would think
12:24
is pretty incidental. You know, it's one plant, but
12:28
because there is so few of them, you have the disruption in in
12:33
any of these. Example would be the Holcomb
12:35
fire. COVID was another thing.
12:37
And as you get that concentrated, it leads to empty
12:41
shelves. And you think about that just a
12:44
little bit. And and that's so true.
12:45
Short these cities like we did through COVID on toilet paper
12:51
and Heller's fist fights in the in the parking lot, you know no
12:55
meat, no eggs. Why you know that's no way no
12:59
either. You know it's no question that
13:01
we need a presence in the marketplace and in the supply
13:04
chain of these big mega companies.
13:07
But you know, they, they need to operate in my opinion, within
13:11
the scope of the law and not create a monopoly as I think we
13:16
have that pushes competition out.
13:19
You know, it's interesting. I, I, I did the math on my JBS
13:23
settlement. It, it finally just the
13:25
curiosity killed me. But you know, they kill 18.8
13:30
million cattle a year. And over the five year period of
13:35
the lawsuit that amounts to 94,000,000 cattle on one Packer
13:41
and the fine was 87 and a half million that that's what they
13:45
settled on. Well, Warren, the math is $0.93
13:50
a head, that's what the payout is going to be.
13:53
And then you give probably 50% of that to the suits and it sure
13:59
looks like the producers going to get 46 1/2 cents per head.
14:03
What what's the use? And, and, and I am so sick
14:08
myself of hearing that we are admitting no wrongdoing.
14:12
You know, Tyson just paid 55,000,000, Cargill paid 32 and
14:17
a half million. Of course JBS 87 and a half
14:20
million, which would be fine if that's what it was.
14:24
But in 21 why? Tyson pays 4.62 million for
14:29
collusion with the other Packers, 220 million for chicken
14:34
price fixing, 20 JBS no wrongdoing, but 20 million for
14:40
pork price fixing 2002 and a half million for beef price
14:46
fixing The food suppliers in 2022 Cisco Food You've seen the
14:51
little Cisco food trucks drive around.
14:53
They sued all four of the Packers for price fixing.
14:56
Ronald McDonald why? He got out his briefcase and he
15:00
sued all four of the big four Packers for price fixing.
15:04
Tyson and JBS pay 127,000,000 for coercion and and working
15:12
workman's wage fixing. You know, at the end of the day
15:16
why it's a hell of a deal. They pay $0.93 a head and we'd
15:19
let them all off the hook, you know, and I mean what the hell,
15:23
you have to get hit an head with a prick to see what the Hell's
15:26
going on. And like I said, I know people
15:29
that buy for them. I know people that are involved
15:31
in the corporation, great people.
15:33
We need them. We need their presence in the
15:35
market. And I'm repeating myself, but we
15:38
are getting so concentrated and you know, the others just, they
15:42
can't compete and, and, and in the meantime, over the last five
15:46
years, why we've lost 107,000 beef producers.
15:51
And it's just, you know, the ones that are left are are
15:54
forced into committing 100% of their inventory to the Packer in
15:59
order to get a place on the list.
16:02
So you can get your cattle sold and you know, no market at all.
16:07
You just send them in and you get an adjusted price after the
16:11
cattle are killed. Well, hell, that's not a, that's
16:14
not a market, that's not a sound business plan.
16:18
But if you're forced into it, that's the only option you have,
16:21
you know, but then like I said, have a, a COVID or a fire or a
16:25
plant closure. And if you're an independent
16:29
guy, they'll kill their own and all their, you know, alternative
16:33
marketing guys, all the guys that they've entered into a deal
16:36
with, they'll kill all them first and you're left out in the
16:40
cold. It's pretty tough to sell
16:43
hamburger and steaks out of the back seat of your car,
16:46
especially when you've got several of them to do.
16:48
And that's a fact. And I've been there and not been
16:51
able to sell them. And what do you do?
16:54
Well, they're taking care of their buddies and all the people
16:56
that's in the program. And of course, we got to kill
16:58
our own cattle. I know countless cases.
17:01
One guy up at Pueblo, Co sold a Packer for 40 years and COVID
17:07
hit and they he said, I'm sorry, we, we can't get him killed.
17:10
But at the end of the day, with this concentration, any little
17:14
disruption and the independent guy, hell, he's at the bottom of
17:19
the ladder. He got no place to go unless
17:21
he's made a deal. And you know, I don't know, but
17:25
you know, I'm probably wrong, but ask the independent hog and
17:29
chicken and dairy guys how vertical integration is treating
17:34
them, how they're getting along. I, I just think we need to be
17:37
aware of it. And you know, again, I'm, I'm
17:39
probably wrong, but you know, we get, we get this huge new feed
17:43
yard open that's fully vertically integrated, feeding
17:47
these beef on dairy into a uniform, consistent standardized
17:53
product. And then how you got the
17:54
government subsidized them for their methane production, But
17:58
just the writing is on the wall that that's the way that we're
18:02
headed at the expense of the little guy, of the independent
18:07
guy. And again, I'm, I'm probably
18:09
wrong, you know, but here I am. I'm forced to pay the check off
18:13
fee for the Packers and the retailers beef promotion while
18:19
they pay absolutely nothing. And you know again, probably
18:24
wrong but boy if I'm supposed to get the trickle down effect of
18:28
where my check off dollar is going, the only trickle down I
18:32
see is when I either puke or pee on my boots after I pay the
18:36
bill. I mean they are definitely
18:39
getting more bang for your buck at the beef retail and at the
18:45
Packer deal then some guy running cows and calves is.
18:48
And then it galls your ass when you're paying for their
18:52
promotion. They don't pay $1.00.
18:54
Let's get an even playing field. I maybe we're getting some good
18:58
out of it, but we're sure as hell not getting as much good
19:01
out of it as the Packer or the HRI trade is.
19:05
That's the direct beneficiary to beef sales.
19:08
You know, same thing. Probably wrong.
19:10
You know, when the government forces us again to Eid our
19:14
cattle so they can identify and control my carbon footprint and,
19:19
and make sure I'm what my environmental impact statement
19:23
is and, and taking away grazing to replace them with a Prairie
19:27
dog town and a bunch of inbred wild horses.
19:30
But, you know, competition and the independent little guy, I
19:36
think is being eliminated because they're a pain in the
19:40
ass of the big guy. Yeah.
19:42
Well, going back to what you said about the whole like
19:45
vertical integration in the monopoly standpoint on it, you
19:48
made such a great point of, hey, let's go talk to our hog guys,
19:52
let's talk to our chicken guys, let's talk to our dairy guys
19:54
right now. And let's see how that's worked
19:56
out for that, because we we have some perfect examples in the
20:01
agricultural space, in the processing industry of areas
20:04
that this has happened. And it has bit the producer in
20:07
the ass and it has been one of those situations that like they
20:11
are now trying to backpedal, trying to fix a problem that
20:15
didn't get fixed in the 1st place.
20:17
And they're honestly, they're kind of at a stall out because
20:20
they're there is, there's, there's ways you can fix it, but
20:23
you got to really disrupt the industry to do that.
20:26
And you made such a great point too, of bringing up the fact of
20:30
like these independent guys go in there and they try to do
20:33
this. And there's no, there's no
20:34
market for it. It's bring your cattle in, you
20:36
get the price that you get. That is literally a definition
20:40
of monopoly right there like that.
20:43
There's no fair market on this. There's no fairway to actually
20:47
go to the market and say, hey, let me get the best friends.
20:51
They get to decide the price that they're going to do.
20:54
And the independent guys are the ones getting screwed the most at
20:57
the end of the day. And you made another really
20:59
great point talking and bringing up the fact that we are losing
21:02
producers left and right. These independent guys are going
21:06
out of business like crazy. And independent Packer gets hit
21:08
with one thing. That plant, if it closes, it's
21:11
not reopening. The odds of it reopening, oh
21:14
gosh, I think they're like 1015% that if a plant closes, the odds
21:18
of it reopening as an independent plant are so low
21:22
right now. And we can't keep ignoring that.
21:24
We can't keep ignoring the fact that we are losing competition
21:27
in the marketplace that we are continuously pushing towards
21:30
these large Packers. And like you said, I have great
21:33
friends that work at all of these industries and at all of
21:37
the different Packers and they're amazing people.
21:38
We need them in the marketplace. But you can't ignore the writing
21:42
on the wall in the blatant fact that there is not fair
21:45
competition for our producers in this standpoint and that we are
21:49
getting the short into the steak.
21:51
You look at the beef dollar and the producers are getting this
21:54
much of the dollar like they they're not getting the correct
21:58
ratio. And I don't know a way to fix it
22:01
that isn't going to disrupt the entire industry.
22:03
But you we can't keep ignoring the writing on the wall.
22:05
Well, you, you just keep eliminating at the end of the
22:09
day, our individual private producers, private producers.
22:14
And then what happens? Then we start outsourcing for
22:18
our food supply, you know, because we don't have all we've
22:21
got's this mega monster up there and he's the least cost guy and
22:25
he'll get his supply wherever he needs to, whatever's the
22:28
cheapest. And it's a great business model.
22:31
I mean, if you can get off the hook for $0.93 a head and keep
22:36
your monopoly and keep your deal rolling, why in the hell
22:39
wouldn't you? So, you know, don't, don't look
22:42
for them to bow down and say, well, boys, we're just, we're
22:46
making too much money. And it's, you know, that's not
22:50
their job. I'm not Hell, they've done a
22:52
hell of a job. But there's laws in place that
22:56
are supposed to the Sherman antitrust law that are supposed
22:59
to not give the small guy where he is at a complete
23:04
disadvantage. And you don't have to be very
23:07
smart to see that today. And it trickles down and comes
23:10
in to the feed lot guys that comes down and it'll eventually
23:14
get the cow calf guy. And you know, I, I just think we
23:19
are so convinced and they are so big that we want this cheap food
23:24
supply, but so they're happy to outsource it.
23:29
You know what I mean? Hell.
23:31
And, and, and the saddest part about it is we don't need to
23:35
outsource it. We can produce everything we
23:37
need here and consume it all. If we have a surplus of
23:42
something, then let's worry about exporting the product to
23:45
somewhere else. But let's take care of the local
23:47
producer and let's take care of our US producers and inject a
23:52
little liberty in into the system where we take care of
23:56
ourselves. Then you get in a global
23:59
catastrophe, you're self-sufficient and you don't
24:03
have riots in the street because the shelves are empty because
24:07
you got one guy that's holding them all of me and his plant
24:10
just burnt down. So now you're screwed and you
24:14
take away the food and the water and the games from these people
24:19
and the population and you haven't seen anything yet.
24:22
Yeah, no, 100%. I agree with everything that you
24:25
just said. And especially like a bunch of
24:27
emphasis on the fact that like we can't, we can't keep ignoring
24:30
this. We can't keep ignoring this and
24:33
pretending like there's not an issue and like just kind of
24:36
brushing it off, which I think we've done for years or we've
24:41
spoken up about it. This, this isn't something new.
24:43
Like this isn't a new topic. We've been talking about this
24:47
for a long time. But this is one of those
24:49
situations that's like it is going to come to bite us in the
24:53
ass if something doesn't happen, if something doesn't change.
24:58
And I don't think any of us have the perfect answer.
25:01
And I understand that these Packers need to maintain their
25:03
margins, but we need to look at like our beef producers aren't
25:08
getting a hell of a lot of a margin right now.
25:10
Like we need to look at that aspect.
25:13
And the self sustainability is so important too.
25:16
Like we need to be a self-sustaining country and be
25:20
able to put America first. I I understand that we need to
25:24
have access to a global market and we got to have some give and
25:27
take there, but we need to start putting American producers
25:32
first. And, and it's a, it's a
25:34
balancing act because you know, it's just like bailing out the
25:38
soybean guys. Well, the government put them in
25:41
that position. China's out, China buys all the
25:44
soy soybeans. And you know, the answer is such
25:48
a delicate balance there because we incentivize producers to over
25:54
produce and they're all excited about yield and production and
25:58
da da, da, da, da. Well, what happens when you over
26:00
produce and then you have a major player step out of the
26:05
market, The market goes to shit, you know, and, and so then we
26:10
got to bail them back out and prop them up so they can go
26:13
again and and it's just out of kilter.
26:16
And until the DOJ finally man's up and set some kind of a
26:21
precedent as to this is wrong and we're going to fix it rather
26:27
than, OK, well, we'll just take, we'll give that producer 46
26:32
cents a head for his cattle and we'll forget about this one and
26:35
go on to the next one and the next one and the next one.
26:39
And I just touched on the lawsuits that we're, you know,
26:45
we're not saying we're guilty, but God Dang, here's 127 million
26:50
to make it go away. And, you know, when are we going
26:55
to address that? You know, they did it with AT&T
26:57
when and they were pretty big. They weren't in the food
27:00
business. But we've got to restore some
27:03
competition back into this thing or we're just touching the
27:06
surface on what vertically integrated it is all about.
27:11
And hopefully Rollins and Trump, I think, I think they want to
27:15
secure and make our food safe and #1 make us independent, not
27:22
dependent on needing a lot of other countries help in order to
27:27
feed our population. Yeah, that was a major running
27:30
point for them. I think.
27:32
They're working, Yeah, I do think they are.
27:34
And they're especially, they've put a big emphasis on it in the
27:37
oil and gas sector again, which Trump did in his first
27:40
administration, was kind of undone, took a back step, and
27:44
then now they're trying to reimplement that again in this
27:46
administration. So they've put a big emphasis on
27:48
that. But that is a major thing for
27:50
them and a major focus. So I don't think that this is
27:53
something that isn't on the radar.
27:55
But it's like you said, it's a delicate balance.
27:58
Like it's one of those situations that's like, you want
28:01
to correct it without it disrupting the market too much,
28:07
right? Like you want it to correct.
28:09
You want it to like, hey, guys, this, this is wrong.
28:12
We got to fix this. Let's figure out how to fix it.
28:15
But you don't want the market to crash.
28:17
And then all of us end up on our behinds and scratching our heads
28:22
saying, well, where the hell did we go wrong?
28:25
Like we're trying to fix something and upscrewing
28:27
ourselves even more. So it's just, it's a complicated
28:31
situation. But like you said, the writing's
28:33
on the wall and we've got other sectors of this industry that
28:35
have that have perfect examples of how this can go.
28:39
Very poorly. And we need to, I think we need
28:41
to start listening and stop just kind of sweeping it under the
28:45
rug. Absolutely, absolutely.
28:47
Any other final thoughts, John, as we close out the podcast?
28:50
I don't. I don't think so.
28:52
But you know, I would just we've got some patriots out there and
28:57
some people that are carrying the flag.
28:59
And, you know, I would say just notify them, get in contact with
29:03
them and say, hey, here's where I'm at as a producer and I'm
29:08
being held at a extreme disadvantage in this venue, this
29:13
venue, this venue. What can you do about it besides
29:17
compensating me $0.46 a head? Yeah, I think that's my biggest
29:21
thing as well, that if you have an issue with something, stop
29:24
talking about it at the coffee shop with the guys down the
29:26
road. Like do something about it
29:28
either call your representatives, call your
29:31
senators, call the people that are the like you were just
29:33
talking about the people that are talking about it right now.
29:36
Give your testimony. Start start talking about it
29:39
because if you have an issue with something, you complaining
29:41
about it to the guys at the coffee shop down the road or at
29:43
the local gas station isn't going to fix anything.
29:46
That's not doing saying anything other than just making everyone
29:49
mad and pissed off, but that's not fixing the problem.
29:52
If you have an issue with something, We live in an amazing
29:55
country that is a democratic economy that allows you to talk
29:58
about things that you don't agree with and that is wonderful
30:02
and you have that right. And so utilize that.
30:04
Take this situation and if you're not happy about it, if
30:07
you have something to say about it, stop getting on Facebook and
30:10
writing five paragraph things. Get on the phone and start
30:13
calling people that can actually do something about it.
30:15
Yeah, yeah, if, if they'll address the situation, you know,
30:20
but they tend to look towards the numbers and the masses.
30:26
And, you know, when we can't even get a common persuasion
30:30
within our own industry, it's pretty tough for a senator or
30:35
representative to say, well, everything you said makes
30:39
perfect sense. But we have these associations
30:42
that say, Oh, no, no, no, no, no, you're you're all wrong.
30:46
Well, look who the biggest dues paying member is to your
30:49
association and then tell all the little guys how wrong they
30:53
are. You know, we're just being LED
30:55
around by the nose. And if it isn't so why do we
30:59
have all of these people like myself that's pissed off like
31:03
Khrushchev over the deal and all these little offshoot
31:07
associations that are saying, hey, there's something wrong,
31:10
There's something wrong. If it's all good and all great,
31:14
well then why in the hell doesn't it?
31:16
Isn't everybody on board and, and the people that are leading
31:22
us around, you know, they, they represent less than 10% of the
31:26
producers, but yet you can't blame a senator or
31:31
representative because he goes to well, this association says
31:36
this, the Farm Bureau says this, the veterinarians say this, the
31:39
NCBA says this and they're all drinking out of the same
31:42
through. And even though you make perfect
31:45
sense, you guys don't pack enough votes for me really to
31:50
get down. And what unless you have
31:51
somebody that is a patriot and rights right and wrongs wrong
31:55
and America first and to hell with all these guys are to get
31:59
in their pockets padded. Here's what's really, really
32:02
happening. And you know, there there's,
32:06
we've got a few of those people around if they'll listen to
32:08
them. Yeah, I think the biggest take
32:11
away of this is no matter what your opinion is, no matter what
32:13
your viewpoint is, if you've got 1 and you care enough about it,
32:18
say something to someone who can do.
32:19
Something about it. Like we have that right.
32:22
Go do it. And we can have civil discourse,
32:24
we can have conversations. We cannot agree on certain
32:27
things. And that's the beautiful thing
32:28
about the world that we live in and the country that we live in.
32:31
But let's sit around a table and let's talk about it.
32:33
And if you've got an issue, start bringing it up.
32:35
Start Because like you said, John, I feel like the biggest
32:38
issue we see is so many people feel like they can't, their
32:41
voice doesn't matter or their voice can't make an impact.
32:44
But I think you're just not getting a hold of the right
32:46
people. You're just not talking to the
32:47
right like groups of people. You're not just get in contact
32:50
with those people that can help you and can help your voice get
32:54
heard because it can. You just got to talk to the
32:57
right people about it and you've got to get in those right groups
33:00
and be willing, be willing to push yourself a little bit and
33:04
use that voice and speak up. Well, if you've as long as you
33:09
don't step on the big boys toes on the way up there and they cut
33:12
your head off and throw it in a bucket, you know, I mean really
33:16
what you're saying is all good and true.
33:18
But again, we have concentrated up to we've got a very few
33:22
people calling all the shots. And if you're constantly back
33:26
there shooting arrows in their ass, pretty soon they say, you
33:29
know what, we're big enough. We don't need your happy ass
33:33
ridiculing us. I don't care if it's right or
33:35
wrong. That's human nature.
33:37
And what I'm going to say to you, pal, is try to spell
33:41
somebody else because you're on the list and you're out.
33:44
So we're all very cautious. And we kind of approach these
33:48
situations with velvet gloves, so we don't get our head handed
33:52
to us from the only person that's willing to buy the
33:54
product we got to sell. Yeah, or they got really great
33:58
point. Yeah, make a great point.
34:01
Make a great point. It can't argue with that.
34:03
It's it's a delicate situation kind of no matter how you look
34:06
at it. But nonetheless, use your voice,
34:08
speak up if you got an issue with it.
34:10
We'll keep. Get off.
34:11
Facebook What? I said we'll stay in here and
34:15
stay after him and and stay fighting and and and I mean not
34:19
mad or upset at into buddy individually.
34:22
It's just the concept is wrong. Yes, it's not healthy.
34:27
It is not healthy for the total population.
34:30
Yeah, the very few up at the very deal.
34:33
It's a windfall. And that's a pretty good
34:35
motivator, just staying there tough.
34:37
But what about all the other people that allowed you to get
34:42
into that position? We just say piss on them and
34:47
shit. We'll outsource our food.
34:49
Yeah, you make a great point. Make a great point.
34:52
I think that is a great time to start to wrap us up.
34:56
John, thank you for your insight, for your opinions, your
34:58
thoughts, all the things today. This is a great topic to talk
35:03
about within your family, talk about within your groups and
35:05
just wherever you're at in your life, start to start to think
35:08
about it. Hopefully some of the things
35:09
John talked about today is thought provoking and that you
35:12
go out and do your own independent research and you
35:14
figure it out for yourself and form an opinion.
35:16
And no matter what way it leans, you form an opinion for yourself
35:20
and you you start to stand up for that opinion in whatever way
35:23
it is. So John, thank you for your
35:25
time. To all of our listeners out
35:26
there. Thank you for listening to
35:28
another podcast and we will see you all next time.
35:31
Have a Good Friday y'all.