People adjust

[cowman]

Stopped in at the local calf sale yesterday and prices seemed to be fairly decent. Talked to one old boy who was selling some calves and he figured things weren't all that bad. His 800 lb. steers sold for $1.0375/lb. He did a little complaining about how the commission had gone up and the ABP checkoff more than anything! When I asked him how he was doing with his culls he said he only had four last fall that really needed to go. Said he didn't feel like giving them away so just shot them with the old .22 and dragged them out for the coyotes! He figures if everybody did that soon the price of cows would go up!...and he may just be right!
Anyway I asked him if he ever thought of just quitting and he figured if he got rid of the cows and just grain farmed he might go crazy. He said he didn't know how anyone could just put in two weeks in the spring and two weeks in the fall and sit on their butt the rest of the year! He was kind of entertaining to say the least. Now I will point out all you guys who are business oriented are going to have a very hard time competing with someone like this who is raising cattle for his mental health!

[blackjack]

...cowman has it not always been that way...when you get older the kids are gone...hopefully the land and machinery are payed for...go shread a bale for the cows...ranchers heaven...

[blackjack]

I doubt if all the 'older' producers are on easy street. Some of them purchased more land because the son was going to farm with them, and then of course needed to get more machinery or newer machinery etc. I don't know how old the fellow you were talking to is cowman, but I am guessing that a significant number of cattle producers in their mid fifties are still not completely debt free and are living the life of Riley during these difficult times.
I agree that there are a lot of folks that can weather this storm and come out the other side in fairly good shape,but some of them may have had the farm handed down to them vs having to take on a large debt load to get started in the first place.
I sometimes think that I must be in the cattle business to keep myself in shape cause I am sure not making any money at it these days. Maybe the government will give us an INCENTIVE because of all the excercise we get, particularily at calving time !!!

[farmers_son]

I think the old guy had a lot of wisdom. Keeping busy is important for overall health, mental health included. While retiring and doing nothing or very little may seem attractive it is far better to keep involved with activities you enjoy.

[ALICIA]

Mental Health= You bet. Last night one of my cows was calfing and she was getting right down to it, but I thought she is working just to hard something is wrong. Sure was, one back foot. Quiet herefords are the best, she stood right their and let me go in and get the other foot. Then she went up in the bale and I got the pulles and got my calf. It was in shock but breathing, cow cleaned it off and I put it in a pen, under 2 heat lamps and used the hair dryer and a saddle blanket and got a couple of sippes of milk from the cow down her ever 2 hour and then I got 4 hours sleep because I turned the alarm off. She must of got to hot because the blankets were under her this morning and she was hungry. I'll give her back to her mother tonight I guess. She is long and tall and weighs in at 120, I can't believe I saved her, Their is just no feeling like it.

[cowman]

Well Alicia, I can truly support your statement "There is no feeling like it!"
I suspect we all know that feeling? I suspect that is the feeling that feeds the "addiction"?
Emerald: This "old Boy" was around mid fifties...and yea he doesn't owe any money. He actually had a pretty happy attitude towards the whole thing...laughed a lot and always had a smile!
I would suspect he actually has a pretty healthy mind?

[cowman]

cowman, I would think it is a lot easier to laugh a lot and have a healthy mindset when you don't have the creditors knocking at the door. Unfortunately not too many of our producers have been laughing a lot for sometime...unless they have taken up drinking !!!!
I see that we are going to have new fruit wines made in Alberta, maybe that will be the second income that producers need. Lots of saskatoons around, so maybe the old still in the back forty can get fired up !!! ( Not in my back forty....don't want anyone to get the wrong idea !!).