Here’s to what may come

Regional Manager Brandon Covey

This month, across the Southwest, there’s not too much to report. Oh, but only if it were true. Like Charles Dudley Warner once said, “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.”

Southwesterners have recently reported record-high temperatures and fires across some parts of the region, and there has been flooding from Missouri, down through Oklahoma and eastern Texas.

Around the Texas panhandle, it seemed like we were in the clear after tornado season, and now this. Cases of foot rot, especially in transplanted cattle, appear to be on the rise in the areas hit with heavy rains. I also heard about one Oklahoma dairyman, who wishes to remain anonymous (my dad), that was driving milk cows across a flooded creek. After he crossed, his horse slipped on a wet spot in the grass and injured the man. (I’ll spare my dad and you the extent of those injuries.) So there has been no shortage of headaches.

But if it wasn’t for the weather, just think of all the conversations that we would’ve missed out on. Old men would have a lot less to say to each other. Farmers wouldn’t have as much to complain about, and the six o’clock news would be about 10 minutes shorter. (Actually, they’d probably fill that space with Hollywood fluff.) I shudder to think about such a world.

And then there’s the price of feed, particularly corn as of late. While we generally leave the weather to God, the feed price is largely affected by us. (My rule of thumb used to be: “If it’s God, it’s not political.” But, with Iraq and global warming, that theory is pretty shaky.) Feed price is affected by us not only as producers but also as consumers. Are we making a difference if we’re driving vehicles that run on ethanol but at the same time drive up the price of corn? Is our objective environmental, or is it purely economical?

At Alltech’s recent annual symposium, the company’s president, Dr. Pearse Lyons, addressed the topic, “The New Energy Crisis: Food, Feed, or Fuel?” Lyons confirmed that corn’s demand would be met in the following priority – first, food for humans; second, fuel for humans; and third, feed for livestock. But he also said there may be hope in new technologies that could bring the production-to-consumption ratio back into balance. Now, it seems the question is, “How long until these technologies are readily available, and how long until they are accepted?”

On a lighter note, higher feed prices usually give dairymen an easy “out” when they’re trying to get rid of an unwanted salesman. Of course, we know the good ones don’t give up that easy.

A couple of other bright spots about our current situation: The price of milk has jumped considerably. Of course, some still say this only offsets the price of fuel and feed. But I’ve even heard of organic milk being sold conventionally because it is more economical for the organic processor than paying to have it shipped farther away to be processed with other organic dairy products. The other thing we should try to remember is that after we have “weathered” the fires and floods, new and vibrant life will emerge. And that should make us all smile.

Well, that’s a brief rundown of what’s going on around the Southwest. By the way, if anyone’s interested, I can put you in touch with someone selling a good horse for cheap … just ask for Mom, not Dad.

So, here’s to what may come. May we influence what we can and accept what we cannot. As always, God does the rest. PD