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Agriculture, skepticism, politics
Header image
Agriculture, skepticism, politics

Black Wednesday

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I hope you weren’t long on cattle futures on the Merc.

It’s time had come. The confirmation of a single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the state of Washington has sent the industry reeling. Why? Much ado about nothing, I think. The ignorant will tell you that you should stop eating beef. Those in the know will tell you that the market will stabilize around 75 to 80 cents…eventually.

Already a host of countries have given in to the same fear that has locked the markets limit-down today and probably through the first few days of 2004. What a Christmas present. It’s too bad that fear drives markets. If science and judgement drove prices, we’d see no change. I’m telling you, it’s time had come. I’m glad we’re finally getting it over with. Let’s pull the limits so the market can bottom out and I can go live with a long position and retire in 4 months.

Humans cannot get BSE, or “mad cow” disease. They can get a variant of a disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, that is similar, but only by eating brains, spinal cords and various other things not eaten by humans with a normal human’s diet. Yum.

On a lighter note, I’m playing in JC on Saturday night. Bring all your beef-eatin’ buddies. It’ll be a fun time.

Aaron

traffas.farm | auctioneertech.com | aarontraffas.band

Aaron Traffas farms near Sharon, Kansas. When he's not farming, he works for Purple Wave. A 2017 nominee for Songwriter of the Year at the Rocky Mountain CMAs, Aaron is an active singer and songwriter and the Aaron Traffas Band's latest release, 2023's Real Small Town, can be found at iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. Aaron served as president of the Kansas Auctioneers Association in 2017 and on the National Auctioneers Association Education Institute Board of Trustees from 2009 through 2013. An active contract bid caller, he has advanced to the finals in multiple state auctioneer contests.

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