Air November 24, 2004

Thank you Jerry, and good morning everyone.

A quick reminder to cow calf producers to call in to the Extension Office and make your reservation for our cow calf meeting December 2nd at JC Livestock Sales. We have three great speakers on the agenda and a good meal. If you haven't pre-registered by now the cost is $15, but I encourage you to call and pre-register anyway so we can get a good count - don't want anyone to go hungry! Call the Extension office for details and to register!

Boy, we've just been getting a plethora of good information lately. The latest round was the announcement of an inconclusive BSE test on a rapid screening test last week. At this time - midday on Tuesday, we were still waiting for confirmation. This release was quite interesting because it had been announced months ago that there weren't going to be any more announcements of inconclusive rapid screening tests. What does this mean and what should you do. Obviously, the markets are going to show some volatility for slaughter animals until we know the outcome of the detailed testing. Surprisingly, markets late last week and over the weekend were not off as much as I had expected, and backgrounding and feeder cattle showed good strength. Hopefully this is just another false positive and we can get back to normal and maybe get these eastern Asian markets back open soon! Now I don't want to let this broadcast get away without a couple of Thanksgiving comments. With a current BSE concern it may seem odd to be talking about Thanksgiving, but let's be quite honest with ourselves. The one BSE case from last December did far less damage than I think anyone expected. To me, this simply points out how much faith the general public has in the quality and safety of our food supply. We told them it was still okay to eat beef, and they did just that. The American public has far more faith in the food inspection system and the food itself than in any other country. And this faith is not on thin ice. This alone gives us plenty to be thankful for this season. I hope you all will have a good Thanksgiving holiday. Drive carefully, drive sober, wear your seat belt, look out for the other driver and take a few moments tomorrow to think about all your blessings!

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2004.

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