For some funny reason I'm remembering what an older guy told me about a year ago. He and his brother had a feedlot where they brought in heavy yearlings to finish, usually putting on about 400 lbs., using the corn and hay they grew on their farms.
They had years of experience and sold reputation, hard-fed butcher cattle.
On May 20, 2003 (a black day burned into the memory of Canadian Cattlemen) those two brothers had 400 - 1400lb. steers ready to ship and lined up to go. When the bad news broke, the packing plant doors slammed shut almost as tight as the U.S. border.
When the backlog cleared a little and they could finally move them - fed longer than they normally would - - they got $300 dollars/hd. for cattle that cost them $1300 as long yearlings. Not to mention their feed that went into the steers.
At their age, it was next to impossible to make up their losses. After years of doing an excellent job of what they were very good at, they were almost back to where they had started decades ealier. Sorry to cast a cloud over good news - but some things are hard to forget.
So let's enjoy what we have!