Sell out prices

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i witnessed a sellout yesterday, everything selling at high prices.
We picked up a below average pair for $925.00. , could have bought the pair for $500.00 back in the summer.
A few nice young cows brought over $1 a lb.
I'm not complaining, I like it.
 
With the current cattle prices and the uncertainty of costs to produce, if I was considering getting out in the near future, this would be the time.

Let the land rest and lease it out. Lock in your revenue and enjoy life.
Don't wait so late that you've physically worn yourself out too much to enjoy it.

Got the text summary of last month's MRI of my back. I see a neurologist tomorrow and my bone/joint doctor next week. Both appointments are in Temple and it's going to be a painful drive. The results don't look too good in my layman's eyes.
It has been a ;long arduous journey to try to get something done.

I first 'presented' to Baylor Scott and White here in Copperas Cove May 19 2022 with sciatica. Saturday will be 9 months. If I were a woman and had sex that day, I would have already carried to full term and dropped a kid. Tomorrow, I MAY finally find out what is wrong and get a plan of treatment. (probably not tho)

Seems to be something wrong in every joint between my neck and butt. The only good thing I see is that my back isn't broken anywhere..

FINDINGS: There is grade 1 anterolisthesis at L5-S1 measuring 9 mm. Suspected L5 pars defects. Partial osseous fusion of the L5-S1 disc space. There is otherwise mild multilevel disc degeneration with loss of disc space height and T2 signal. The vertebral body heights are maintained. The marrow signal intensity is normal. There is no evidence of acute fracture. The conus terminates at the L1 level and is normal in morphology. Cholelithiasis within the visualized gallbladder. The extraspinal soft tissues otherwise demonstrate no significant findings.

T12-L1: Small diffuse disc bulge. No central canal or foraminal stenosis.

L1-L2: Mild bilateral facet degeneration and small diffuse disc bulge. No central canal or foraminal stenosis.

L2-L3: There is moderate right and moderate left facet degeneration with thickening of ligamentum flavum. Diffuse disc bulge. Mild central canal narrowing with AP canal diameter of 10 mm. There is mild left-sided foraminal stenosis. No significant right foraminal stenosis.

L3-L4: Mild bilateral facet degeneration with thickening of the ligament of flavum. Diffuse disc bulge which is asymmetric to the right. Minimal narrowing of the right neural foramen. No significant left foraminal stenosis. There is mild central canal narrowing with AP canal diameter of 9 mm, with preferential narrowing of the right lateral recess.

L4-L5: Mild bilateral facet degeneration. Diffuse disc bulge osteophyte complex which is asymmetric to the right. There is mild narrowing of the right neural foramen. No significant left foraminal stenosis. No significant central canal stenosis. Interspinous abutment and degeneration is visualized posteriorly.

L5-S1: Grade 1 anterolisthesis as noted above. Mild bilateral facet degeneration. Uncovering of the posterior disc with a small diffuse disc bulge osteophyte complex. Moderate bilateral foraminal stenosis. No significant central canal stenosis.

IMPRESSION: 1. Grade 1 anterolisthesis at L5-S1 with suspected L5 pars defects. Partial osseous fusion of the L5-S1 disc space.
2. Additional multilevel degenerative changes as described in detail above
.

This ain't how I expected or hoped to spend my last years..
 
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Sometimes the best you can do is cash in when your chips are up. I think the only sad part is that on average more people I've known previously or met in more recent times don't have anyone interested or trustworthy enough to make it worth passing it on. I don't know why that is, I guess it's just the times.
 
Sometimes the best you can do is cash in when your chips are up. I think the only sad part is that on average more people I've known previously or met in more recent times don't have anyone interested or trustworthy enough to make it worth passing it on. I don't know why that is, I guess it's just the times.

Most kids today (or younger adult kids even in their 20s-40s) have figured out there are easier ways to get thru life than keeping cattle and certainly easier/better financial prospects out there. By the time a farmer rancher is ready to get out, his/her kids have probably already gotten settled into their own lives and good paying jobs outside agriculture. If it ain't in their blood, ya can't force it.
 
Most kids today (or younger adult kids even in their 20s-40s) have figured out there are easier ways to get thru life than keeping cattle and certainly easier/better financial prospects out there. By the time a farmer rancher is ready to get out, his/her kids have probably already gotten settled into their own lives and good paying jobs outside agriculture. If it ain't in their blood, ya can't force it.
Understandable, and based a lot on location too, I guess. Some places you can have a town job and still fool with ag and some places you'd play hell. Still you'd think with all of the "back to the land" homesteading types that there'd be more potential young cattle people.
 
Still you'd think with all of the "back to the land" homesteading types that there'd be more potential young cattle people.
From what I've observed, that "back to the land" thing doesn't often happen with young folks. It happens in their 50s and early 60s and only after they've made a living in the non-ag sectors..
Too often, Youth is wasted on the young and wisdom wasted on the elderly.


I'll always be thankful I got into FFA and the ag programs in school so many years ago. It helped me form a vision of what I wanted in life more than anything else. I did lots of different things in life, but I ALWAYS wanted cows.
 
From what I've observed, that "back to the land" thing doesn't often happen with young folks. It happens in their 50s and early 60s and only after they've made a living in the non-ag sectors..
Too often, Youth is wasted on the young and wisdom wasted on the elderly.


I'll always be thankful I got into FFA and the ag programs in school so many years ago. It helped me form a vision of what I wanted in life more than anything else. I did lots of different things in life, but I ALWAYS wanted cows.
I see what you mean. Goodness, those programs need to be more prolific in many areas. I don't know how many could even stick to ag if they got into it anyway. My younger sister (huge age gap, but mama says she was the only planned one, you tell me) wanted to get back into ag a few years ago. She was early teens or so. Mom stood her the money, some friends helped with the little bit of labor, and I stood her the help and advice whenever I could make it around to do so. She got a bunch (but not too many) of chickens and a chicken tractor, a big passel of ducks with a movable setup, a movable rabbit setup and a primo horse pulled off a cow spread over in Georgia. Well, she really took to it for a month or three, then she wouldn't reliably feed and water her stuff unless pressed into it, if I was around I just did it for her, she didn't reliably collect eggs half the time, somebody else had to shoot stray dogs if they got into her stuff, somebody else had to move her chicken tractor half the time. The horse had been used to working more than being penned and had a bunch of energy so she was soon half buffaloed by him even though he was just pent up. I rode him and worked with him many times and he was just fine under a firm hand and if you actually let him do something more than walk. A couple of her "cowgirl" (barrel racers) friends got on him and came at him wrong and got pitched and suddenly nobody would get on him except for me when I was around but I couldn't take him so he got sold. She owns two animals now, a fat dog and a blue duck.
 
I've read somewhere that the average age of a farmer/rancher in the USA is in the 70s, unless you have a younger family member to pass it on to that wants to do the work then the farm or ranch will likely die off with the owner. It's a very capital-intensive business with poor cash flow and it's not something many young people just starting out in life can afford to take on that much debt. I wonder about what things will look like in 20 years, will we be a beef importer rather than a beef exporter.
 
I've read somewhere that the average age of a farmer/rancher in the USA is in the 70s, unless you have a younger family member to pass it on to that wants to do the work then the farm or ranch will likely die off with the owner. It's a very capital-intensive business with poor cash flow and it's not something many young people just starting out in life can afford to take on that much debt. I wonder about what things will look like in 20 years, will we be a beef importer rather than a beef exporter.
I know or know of several people that are still in it with their dads and granddads, so there's some hope. I do think that by that 20 year mark the number of head required for it to be more than a hobby will be greater than it is now, for sure.
 
Just because one sells all the cows doesn't mean they're out.
You talking bout me ????

I keep enough to fill my freezer and piddle with. Sold the bigger pastures. Just have the small acreage at the house now. Still help out when friends or family have a need and I am available. Not much for myself any more. I miss all the calves but I don't miss the problems.
 

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