Every NCBA member I know is concerned with price discovery in the cattle market. With fewer packers and more captive supplies and more formula cattle, fewer and fewer cattle are priced with negotiated settlement, and very few settled on open outcry. That said, the last thing needed is the short sighted government intrusions and edicts supported by the callicrate crowd. If anyone has a fix, "we all want to see the plan"

Not sure how this figures into the issue: I was talking to a friend who is a yard foreman in a giant southwestern feedyard about all the old cows and bulls I've seen on feed the last several months. It used to be feeders shunned feeding old cattle a little bit eventhough a lot of money has been made swapping cows. He said that in their yards, the cows and bulls are fed by packers. So I get around to asking my friend about reading tea leaves for market direction. So we go over and visit with the risk management guru at the yard. Hard to pin down the guru, but they're advising a lotta price protection.