Nearly two decades ago, former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that when analyzing a situation there are “known knowns,” as in the things we know, “known unknowns” as in things we know we don’t know, and then there are the “unknown unknowns” meaning there are things we don’t even know that we don’t know. …The Pentagon faces a June deadline to issue an unclassified report on unidentified flying objects, which is expected to detail what the government knows about such incidents.Among the many “unknown unknowns?” We have no idea what will be in this report, and we have no idea how the American public or American politicians will react.The issue of wanting more information about UFOs hardly fits neatly down any sort of ideological, generational, or geographical lines. Former Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid for years was calling for more information on the topic. Today among those leading the charge for more information is Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida.Language ordering the report was tucked into a bipartisan $2.3 billion COVID relief bill that Donald Trump signed into law in December. Among that law’s many provisions was one that said that the Pentagon had to issue a reportto Congress in 180 days on “unidentified aerial phenomena (also known as ‘anomalous aerial vehicles’), including observed airborne objects that have not been identified.”After years of UFO discussion being dismissed as a fantasy pushed by kooks, the idea lately has been taken more seriously, especially as cameras, like on Naval vessels and planes, have recorded objects in American airspace doing things that appear to defy laws of physics.Indeed, the Pentagon has recently admitted thatit has beguntracking and investigating these events.Last year, it released three videosthat show “unexplained aerial phenomena” flying rapidly, with two of the videos containing audio of US service members reacting in amazement at what they are seeing.The national security concerns are obvious: These objects could be from a foreign military or intelligence agency (the US government insists they are not American) or, sure, it is possible these objects are coming from somewhere other than Earth. What is less obvious is what exactly the US government knows about the objects captured on camera or seen by multiple people. Further, we also don’t know what the leading theory is among those in the government as to what these objects are or if any of these incidents are related. …
WASHINGTON — Despite President Biden’s pledge to aggressively cut the pollution from fossil fuels that is driving climate change, his administration has quietly taken actions this month that will guarantee the drilling and burning of oil and gas for decades to come.The clash between Mr. Biden’s pledges and some of his recent decisions illustrates the political, technical and legal difficulties of disentangling the country from the oil, gas and coal that have underpinned its economy for more than a century.On Wednesday, the Biden administration defended in federal court the Willow project, a huge oil drilling operation proposed on Alaska’s North Slope that was approved by the Trump administration and is being fought by environmentalists. Weeks earlier, it backed former President Donald J. Trump’s decision to grant oil and gas leases on federal land in Wyoming. Also this month, it declined to act when it had an opportunity to stop crude oil from continuing to flow through the bitterly contested, 2,700-mile Dakota Access pipeline, which lacks a federal permit. …
President Biden’s budget proposal includes billions of dollars for clean energy, education and child care — ideas being sold for their potential to increase America’s economic potential. One thing it does not include: an outright economic boom.In the assumptions that underpin the administration’s budget, G.D.P. growth is strong in 2021 and 2022 — but strong enough only to return the economy to its prepandemic trend line, not to surge above the trajectory it was on throughout the 2010s.In 2023, G.D.P. growth falls to 2 percent in the budget assumptions, then to 1.8 percent a year through the mid-2020s. That is lower than the 2.3 percent average annual growth rate experienced from 2010 to 2019.The administration’s restrained forecast is consistent with projections by other forecasters, including at the Congressional Budget Office and in the private sector. But it means that the Biden White House is not — at least not formally — forecasting the kind of rip-roaring growth that characterized periods like 1983 to 1989 (with an average annual G.D.P. growth of 4.4 percent) and 1994 to 2000 (4 percent). …
WASHINGTON — President Biden’s $6 trillion budget bets on the power of government to propel workers, families and businesses to new heights of prosperity in a rapidly changing economy, by redistributing income and wealth from high earners and corporations to grow the middle class.The inaugural budget request of Mr. Biden’s presidency reduces spending levels compared to last year, when lawmakers pumped trillions of dollars to people, businesses and local governments to help them survive the pandemic recession. But it sets the nation on a new and higher spending path, with total federal outlays rising to $8.2 trillion by 2031 and deficits running above $1.3 trillion throughout the next decade.That spending represents an attempt to expand the size and scope of federal engagement in Americans’ daily lives, including guaranteeing four more years of public education, reducing the costs of child care, granting paid leave for workers, sending monthly government payments to parents and paving the way for electric cars and trucks to take over the nation’s highways and cul-de-sacs.Mr. Biden would borrow trillions over the next decade to fund those programs, swelling the national debt to a record size as a share of the economy, in hopes of putting the country on more solid fiscal footing for decades to come. “The budget is built around a fundamental understanding of how our economy works and why, for too long and for too many, it has not,” Mr. Biden wrote in an introductory message. “It is a budget that reflects the fact that trickle-down economics has never worked, and that the best way to grow our economy is not from the top down, but from the bottom up and the middle out. Our prosperity comes from the people who get up every day, work hard, raise their family, pay their taxes, serve their nation and volunteer in their communities.”To invest in those people, Mr. Biden would impose higher taxes on the wealthy and, in particular, large corporations, a move Republicans warn would cripple American companies’ ability to compete globally. …
On May 28, 2021 when the US Senate votes on a bill to establish a commission to investigate the January 6, 2021 Trump-instigated Insurrection at the US capitol, with a 60% majority required for passage, but eleven senators do not vote, with 54 votes in favor (60.03% of those voting) and 39 opposed (39.33%), the required 60% majority is not obtained.
As we look at the data coming in for inflationary pressures from around the economy, I wanted to pick one that I have seen some anecdotal evidence to support price gauging by processors particularly in the beef industry that is not due to inflationary pressures, at all. Now, the beef industry is one that has been given very little light over the course of the pandemic.
The beef packing industry has been quick to point out that COVID-19 related response has meant that the processing plants needed to space out, and therefore become less efficient in their processing, in Texas, the trend has been since the beginning of the year to be “let’s go back to the way it was” in pretty much all aspects, and packaging plants are no exception.
Let me get some jargon out of the way:
Stocker – beef cow (any bovine graded for human consumption, gender irrelevant)Ground Portion – Each beeve (beef cow) is roughly 800 pounds and is 200 pounds of ground beef and 220 pounds on average of specialty cuts. The rest is organs, excess and skeleton that is sold off for secondary production such as dog food. Pelts sold for leather. We are focusing on ground since this is almost half the edible weight of the beeves, and arguable the most widely consumed.
Market Levels – Level 1 – Ranch, Level 2 – Wholesale Processor, Level 3 – Retail Grocer. We are only concerned with Levels 1 & 2 which is where the disparity lies. Grocers have been rather consistent.
In the beginning of the pandemic the price per pound of ground beef rocketed to $4.63 per pound, on average per the BLS for consumer prices on average for all lower 48 states. We expect statistical outliers in the Northwest and Mid-west between highs and lows, respectively. With a limited supply that is in huge demand we should also see the trickle down to the producers, or in the case the Cattlemen, or Ranchers.
Indeed in 2020 we see that the trend for beef cattle for ground beef is indeed higher per pound at $2.44 for a wholesale stocker. This makes sense when you look at the data comparing Ranch and Wholesale:
One thing you will notice in the 2021 trending data is that there is a concentrated push lower on the rancher margins $2.20 a pound for the packers to continue to get their $4.60 wholesale prices and push the ranchers to concede an additional $0.20 per pound to benefit the packers. For an average ranch that can be tens of thousands of dollars per year and ranches are already on thin margins.
Beef packers pushed ranch auctions lower by buying fewer beeves as the responded to the pandemic; less supply = more demand, because they could only process so much as they had rolling blackouts from shutdowns of plants as the workers tested positive. After adequate safety measures were put into place, toward the end of 2020, prices for beef at auction somewhat stabilized around $108 per 100 pounds, which is exactly the same average price per weight in December of 2019 before the pandemic. Ranchers thought this was good news. However the recover into 2021 has been someone one sided.
As packers increase prices, the recovery for the ranchers is at a disproportionate rate with backers taking an almost 10% margin swing away from the ranchers. Why are we letting this happen?
Packers are notorious for this behavior.
This isn’t the first time the industry has had to deal with the conglomerate oligopoly of The Big Four. Tactics have been floated by the limited processing facilities that have USDA approval to drive down supply and buy less beef. Yes this causes the prices to jump, but the packers have already established that the public is willing to keep paying a higher price, and they will blame inflation, rather than predatory practices.
How the free market is countering
One thing you might have noticed is Facebook groups, farmers markets, and even local meat markets are re-opening! This is us trying to cut out the middle man. We now have local mobile butchers that will come and field dress our cattle on our land, and we will gladly bring you your favorite cuts of meat to the local farmers market in a city nearest you. You can also find our products popping up in local meat markets and butcher shops. We are fighting to get rid of the Perdue’s, Sanderson’s, Glazier’s and all of the middle men who merely process the food we eat and take the lion’s share of the profit, leaving farming communities answering to the banks for that years’ operating loans.
Hopefully this gives a little insight into the current state of affairs out in the ranch, and something to think about when you fire up that grill this weekend. Happy Memorial Day from the middle of nowhere.
Senate Republicans Block Capitol Riot Inquiry in Show of Loyalty to Trump The 54-35 vote killed the best chance for an independent accounting of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.The senators feared an investigation would remind voters of the consequences of former President Trump’s election lies and how the G.O.P. indulged them.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/28/us/politics/capitol-riot-commission-republicans.html
Senate Republicans Filibuster Jan. 6 Inquiry Bill, Blocking an InvestigationThe vote killed the best chance for an independent accounting of the deadly Capitol attack, which Republicans feared would damage them politically.
WASHINGTON — Republicans on Friday blocked the creation of an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, using their filibuster power in the Senate for the first time this year to doom a full accounting of the deadliest attack on Congress in centuries.The vote was a stark display of loyalty to former President Donald J. Trump and political self-interest by Republicans determined to shield themselves from an inquiry that could tarnish their party. They feared an investigation that would remind voters of the consequences of Mr. Trump’s election lies and how Republican lawmakers indulged them, spurring their supporters to violence.It all but guaranteed that there would be no comprehensive nonpartisan inquiry into the attack’s root causes, the former president’s conduct as his supporters threatened lawmakers and the vice president, or any connections between his allies in Congress and the rioters.While members of both political parties agreed in its immediate aftermath that an investigation was needed, most Republicans have since toiled to put the episode behind them, and some have actively sought to deny or play down the reality of what happened. …
On Friday, only six Republicans joined Democrats to support advancing the measure to create the independent commission. The final vote, 54 to 35, fell short of the 60 senators needed to move past a Republican filibuster.The vote was a stinging defeat for proponents of the commission. They had argued that the only way to assemble a truly complete account of the riot for a polarized nation was through an inquiry modeled after the one into the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, in which outside experts with subpoena power undertook a thorough study.Some Republicans expressed disgust with their own party for blocking it, saying that they had put politics over the finding of what promised to be a grim set of facts.“I don’t want to know, but I need to know,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, one of the six Republicans who voted to form the commission. “To be making a decision for short-term political gain, at the expense of understanding and acknowledging what was in front of us on Jan. 6 — I think we need to look at that critically.”While the Justice Department has opened hundreds of criminal cases against rioters, and congressional committees are likely to expand nascent inquiries, they will almost certainly confront limits that a commission staffed with national security experts, jointly appointed by Republicans and Democrats, would not. Among them are partisanship, defiant witnesses and turf wars that are likely to leave unanswered key questions about how the party rallied around Mr. Trump’s stolen-election lies and his demands that Republicans invalidate Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory. …
This sort of lines up with what I at least thought was my sister’s joke about telling the vaccinated from the unvaccinated because the vaccinated witll have masks on.
The author picks an odd example for sure. Dental offices – at least in Wisconsin – are being treated as medical facilities (which they are) and there is nothing happening in them that is different for vaccinated patients or unvaccinated ones. Asking about vaccinations in a dental office has no real practical impact on anyone. Everyone in the waiting room will be masked and when receiving treatment, everyone has to take their masks off. She also undercuts what I think her argument is supposed to be by acknowledging that the vaccinated certainly could get COVID. So it seems to me that the important point is whether or not a person is currently infected. Hence the temperature taking and the survey seem more critical of then asking about vaccination.
Stepping away from this dentist office, I think very few public places have ever asked for proof of this. Maybe after the new mask guidance was announced businesses and others thought that asking would be very conflictive, and so decided not to ask, but their policies really are not from experiencing conflict since they never tried otherwise. There are as many reports of abusive vaccinated people at the Piggly Wiggly as unvaccinated ones: zero in both cases.
I appreciate her concern. I walk through Costco and feel like the number of masks I see are lower than the probable population percentage of not fully vaccinated. But I don’t worry about it. My state and the towns I shop in do not have any mask mandates remaining in force. Shopping maskless, going to a restaurant maskless, going to Cub Scouts maskless are all legal regardless of vaccination status. If those places want an honor system to encourage masking, that’s better than nothing.
In regards to the January 6, 2021 commission, if a the fear is that simply aggregating information from criminal cases coming from the events won’t answer key questions, then go back and make a commission offer that might entice more Republicans to support. It is pretty clear that the major Republican problem with this commission is that it kind of starts out with the notion that Trump’s complaints about the election were a big lie. I live about 5 miles south of the Green Bay WI city line and it sure does not look like a big lie as the conduct of the election in that city gets revealed more and more. So make the commission a dual purpose commission with broad authority not subject to veto by either party to compel evidence about January 6 and also about every aspect of the 2020 election that troubles Republicans. Since it all a big lie, Democrats are going to be okay with this, right?
“then go back and make a commission offer that might entice more Republicans to support” and “starts out with the notion that Trump’s complaints about the election were a big lie.”
Is that you Susan? There is no proposal Democrats could make which would placate you or Republicans other than remove Biden from office and bring the lying racist and misogynistic trump back in office again.
Who called up the Georgia SOS and literally told him to find the number of votes plus one which would over turn the election in Georgia. Mind you the SOS Brad Raffensperger is no friend to minorities and voters alike as he like the governor has been instrumental in stripping voters from the rolls under false pretense. He refused to lie for trump, rightfully so, and he recognized the spotlight would be on him later rather than the liar trump. Georgia has a Repub governor and legislature and they are doing everything they can to stymie future votes by minorities, the disabled, and the elderly.
Lets talk about Wisconsin. I lived there for 12 years, 2 of which I was cutting down trees, gaffing up them, and chipping wood so I could keep my family there till I found better work suitable to my education. Yea, I hobnobbed with the less than desirables who did not have the brains to know they were being played. You are not dumb though and you are being malicious in your desire to disenfranchise people and the vote.
Wisconsin has had a Repub legislature gerrymandered into perpetual existence. It has the power to do pretty much what it pleases. It has or had a Repub sponsored SC in place to mostly support Repub political interests. Yet, the state has voted Dem in national elections since 1988 with the exception of trump’s reign of 4 years. Michigan has done the same since 1992. Why is that? You can not gerrymander a national election.
Michigan has a Repub legislature and has own the Senate since 1983 and the House mostly since 1992. Up till Gretchen, Repubs have had Governorship two of three times since 92 and a trifecta two of three times. Since 1992, Michigan has voted for Dem presidents with the exception of trump who won by less than 1% in 2016 due to the anybody but trump or Clinton vote. In Michigan you can mostly gerrymander state elections but you can not do it with state elections. Right now, state Repubs have sat on $millions of Fed Covid funds in an attempt to force Gretchen to do their bidding. How noble of the bastards, heh?
In Pennsylvania, there is a Repub legislature also. In Arizona, there is a Repub legislature. Georgia has a Repub legislature and Kemp is also. The premise here is since they voted for Biden it must be “the notion that Biden winning was a big lie.” You start off your commentary with a complaint about everyone saying “Trump’s complaints about the election were a big lie.” They were and still are a big lie and you wish to change it to Biden’s winning is a big lie. No . . .
The Republican Party has become the party of supposition, conjecture, innuendo, and if none of that works than lie and confuse the people who you are talking to cast doubt. This is what you are a part of with your continuous babble in support of the lying, racist, misogynistic trump back in office again. In each state, trump contests, there were Repub legislatures and even some governors too. You can’t lie trump back into office again.
Lets talk about the Republican gerrymandered legislature controlling the state of Wisconsin. They do control the state and the figurehead governor often times is bent to their will. It is your contention that the taking of money from left – leaning organizations to fund voting in various cities is wrong? If I read the Milwaukee Journal or Fox News there is a lot of conjecture, supposition and innuendo going on back nothing concrete about the Green Bay Mayor. In 2016, Trump won Brown by 13,000. In 2020, Trump won Brown County by 10,000 votes or 7% over Biden. It was not even close.
Is it just because a left – leaning org. gave money to various cities to fund elections? States are notorious for fleecing cities for funds to run the states. Look at Detroit, a city which is responsible for 40+% of the state’s GDP, Repubs and Snyder literally took funds from the city which might have kept it out of bankruptcy. Gotta have something to dole out when you cut taxes for the wealthy.
If you do think a left leaning group should not even have the appearance of a potential (and false) influence in an election, than maybe the stae should have considered the Koch Bros Org. giving $million to influence elections in Wisconsin too. Do you think Wisconsin Repubs will complain, whine, and block their influence in Wisconsin? Not likely.
Just some more what-aboutisms by Repubs and you Eric.
Eric,Your comments on the GB election perfectly match the trumpists comments on the election, right up to the point where absolutely no proof of any kind is ever offered.”People are saying” means nothing.
Ron (RC) Weakley (A.K.A., Darryl For A While At EV) says:
@Eric377, Amazingly I must agree with you in a general sense, kind of, sort of. It is entirely sufficient that Trump has been removed from the office of POTUS. The aftermath is nothing more than political showmanship and naked opportunism. Trump is POTUS no more and nothing can change that. If Trump attempts a return run for the White House, then there are several ways to handle that. The back story is one of political pandering over issues surrounding our legacy of racism in the US. One side seems to want to embroil our republic in a race war, an uncivil civil war. In any civil war, then neither side has a home field advantage. So, civil wars are always wars of attrition. However, attrition in matters of war only count on the death rates of combatants, those with both the means and the will to kill the other side. Performing the math of attrition in a race war with total population statistics by race can easily lead to false conclusions. Be careful what you wish for. As in most things American these days then truth and competence are far more likely to be illusionary phantoms than anything close to reality. That is what happens when a civilization chooses to outsource its intelligence and wisdom to follow self-serving elites.
… “There was a surge in (gun) purchasing unlike anything we’ve ever seen,” said Dr. Garen J. Wintemute, a gun researcher at the University of California, Davis. “Usually it slows down. But this just kept going.”Not only were people who already had guns buying more, but people who had never owned one were buying them too. New preliminary data from Northeastern University and the Harvard Injury Control Research Center show that about a fifth of all Americans who bought guns last year were first-time gun owners. And the data, which has not been previously released, showed that new owners were less likely than usual to be male and white. Half were women, a fifth were Black and a fifth were Hispanic. …
An Arms Race in America: Gun Buying Spiked During the Pandemic. It’s Still Up.Preliminary research data show that about a fifth of all Americans who bought guns last year were first-time gun owners.
In all, the data found that 39 percent of American households own guns. That is up from 32 percent in 2016, according to the General Social Survey, a public opinion poll conducted by a research center at the University of Chicago. Researchers said it was too early to tell whether the uptick represents a reversal from the past 20 years, in which ownership was basically flat.“Americans are in an arms race with themselves,” said Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who represents South Los Angeles, where the surge in gun violence has been particularly sharp, on the City Council. “There was just as much a run on guns as on toilet paper in the beginning of the pandemic.” …
Georgia’s new voting restrictions dominated headlines in March, for numerous reasons: It was one of the closest states in last year’s presidential election and the focus of former President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign to get Republicans to overturn the results; the legislation was written in such a way as to have a disproportionate impact on voters of color; and the law inspired an unusual amount of backlash from corporate America, even spurring Major League Baseball to move its All-Star Game out of the state.But Georgia is hardly the only state that’s made it harder to vote this year. Republican lawmakers have now enacted new voting restrictions in a total of 11 states — Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, Utah and Wyoming. …
As we wrote in March, Republican state legislators — inspired by Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud — have introduced hundreds of bills this year that would make it harder to vote. Based on the latest data from the Brennan Center for Justice and our own research, at least 404 voting-restriction bills have now been introduced in 48 state legislatures.1 What’s more, nearly 90 percent of them were sponsored primarily or entirely by Republicans. …
Democrats in the Texas Legislature staged a dramatic, late-night walkout on Sunday night to force the failure of a sweeping Republican overhaul of state election laws. The move, which deprived the session of the minimum number of lawmakers required for a vote before a midnight deadline, was a stunning setback for state Republicans who had made a new voting law one of their top priorities.The effort is not entirely dead, however. Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, indicated that he would call a special session of the Legislature, which could start as early as June 1, or Tuesday, to restart the process. The governor has said that he strongly supported an election bill, and in a statement he called the failure to reach one on Sunday “deeply disappointing.” He was widely expected to sign whatever measure Republicans passed.“Election Integrity & Bail Reform were emergency items for this legislative session,” Mr. Abbott said on Twitter on Sunday night. “They will be added to the special session agenda.” He did not specify when the session would start.While Republicans would still be favored to pass a bill in a special session, the unexpected turn of events on Sunday presents a new hurdle in their push to enact a far-reaching election law that would install some of the most rigid voting restrictions in the country, and cement the state as one of the hardest in which to cast a ballot.
The final bill, known as S.B. 7, included new restrictions on absentee voting; granted broad new autonomy and authority to partisan poll watchers; escalated punishments for mistakes or offenses by election officials; and banned both drive-through voting and 24-hour voting, which were used for the first time during the 2020 election in Harris County, home to Houston and a growing number of the state’s Democratic voters.Republicans’ inability to pass the measure on Sunday night was the first major stumble for the party in its monthslong drive to restrict voting across the nation, and an embarrassment for G.O.P. leaders in the Texas Legislature who at least momentarily fell short of a top legislative goal for both the governor and the Republican Party.After a lengthy debate in the State House of Representatives in which Democrats raised numerous objections, staged lengthy question-and-answer sessions and leveraged procedural maneuvers, Democrats departed en masse, leaving the chamber roughly 14 members short of the required 100-member quorum to continue business. Without the requisite number of legislators, Dade Phelan, the speaker of the State House, adjourned the session around 11 p.m. local time, effectively killing the bill for this legislative session.The Democratic flight was sparked by State Representative Chris Turner, the party’s caucus chair in the House, who sent a text message to members at 10:35 p.m. local time.“Members, take your key and leave the chamber discreetly,” Mr. Turner wrote. “Do not go to the gallery. Leave the building. ~ Chris”
My gut is not having a commission is what Democrats are happiest with. Not having a commission and insinuating that there would be really critical revelations but for those awful Republicans is optimal. Discussing why “killing” Officer Sicknick was part of the House impeachment might be less optimal. Anyway, lengthy counterposts notwithstanding, if your counterpary can deny you your objective but you can expand the offer with something that might make it harder for them to deny your objective and in a manner that has little cost to you, then normally you try that. I think a “big lie” commission fits here because that is the fulcrum of January 6 anyway. Not trying is interesting, but possibly behind the scenes Shumer is working with McConnell on something. I doubt it, because of what I think the true interest in Democrats actually is with this commission, but it is possible.
The most unpredictable moment in American politics in a while could take place next month. It has to do with UFOsThe most unpredictable moment in American politics in a while could take place next month. It has to do with UFOs – The Boston Globe
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/28/climate/biden-fossil-fules-climate-Willow.htmlBiden’s Fossil Fuel Moves Clash With Pledges on Climate Change
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/28/upshot/biden-budget-missing-growth.htmlOne Thing Missing From the Biden Budget: Booming GrowthFor all the administration’s focus on transformational policies, it’s not forecasting an outburst of economic potential.
Biden’s $6 Trillion Budget Aims for Path to Middle Class, Financed by the Rich
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/28/business/bidens-6-trillion-budget-aims-for-path-to-middle-class-financed-by-the-rich.html Biden’s $6 Trillion Budget Aims for Path to Middle Class, Financed by the Rich The president’s budget envisions a redistribution of wealth that will allow more Americans to enjoy prosperity, and it invests in climate change, education and infrastructure.
When is a 60% majority not a 60% majority?
Err, that’s 35 votes opposed, still 39.33%
Farm and Ranch Report May 2021 Beef Cattle Prices
As we look at the data coming in for inflationary pressures from around the economy, I wanted to pick one that I have seen some anecdotal evidence to support price gauging by processors particularly in the beef industry that is not due to inflationary pressures, at all. Now, the beef industry is one that has been given very little light over the course of the pandemic.
The beef packing industry has been quick to point out that COVID-19 related response has meant that the processing plants needed to space out, and therefore become less efficient in their processing, in Texas, the trend has been since the beginning of the year to be “let’s go back to the way it was” in pretty much all aspects, and packaging plants are no exception.
Let me get some jargon out of the way:
Stocker – beef cow (any bovine graded for human consumption, gender irrelevant)Ground Portion – Each beeve (beef cow) is roughly 800 pounds and is 200 pounds of ground beef and 220 pounds on average of specialty cuts. The rest is organs, excess and skeleton that is sold off for secondary production such as dog food. Pelts sold for leather. We are focusing on ground since this is almost half the edible weight of the beeves, and arguable the most widely consumed.
Market Levels – Level 1 – Ranch, Level 2 – Wholesale Processor, Level 3 – Retail Grocer. We are only concerned with Levels 1 & 2 which is where the disparity lies. Grocers have been rather consistent.
In the beginning of the pandemic the price per pound of ground beef rocketed to $4.63 per pound, on average per the BLS for consumer prices on average for all lower 48 states. We expect statistical outliers in the Northwest and Mid-west between highs and lows, respectively. With a limited supply that is in huge demand we should also see the trickle down to the producers, or in the case the Cattlemen, or Ranchers.
Indeed in 2020 we see that the trend for beef cattle for ground beef is indeed higher per pound at $2.44 for a wholesale stocker. This makes sense when you look at the data comparing Ranch and Wholesale:
Year Ranch Sale Wholesale Wholesale Profit
2012
2.44 3.72 1.282013 2.50
3.82 1.322014 2.76 4.30 1.542015
3.28 4.63 1.352016 2.60
4.25 1.652017 2.34 4.12 1.782018 2.40 4.12 1.722019 2.42 4.23 1.812020 2.44 4.63 2.192021 2.20 4.60 2.40
One thing you will notice in the 2021 trending data is that there is a concentrated push lower on the rancher margins $2.20 a pound for the packers to continue to get their $4.60 wholesale prices and push the ranchers to concede an additional $0.20 per pound to benefit the packers. For an average ranch that can be tens of thousands of dollars per year and ranches are already on thin margins.
Sources:https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/APU0000FC1101?amp%253bdata_tool=XGtable&output_view=data&include_graphs=true
https://www.nass.usda.gov/charts_and_maps/graphics/data/priceca.txt
Beef packers pushed ranch auctions lower by buying fewer beeves as the responded to the pandemic; less supply = more demand, because they could only process so much as they had rolling blackouts from shutdowns of plants as the workers tested positive. After adequate safety measures were put into place, toward the end of 2020, prices for beef at auction somewhat stabilized around $108 per 100 pounds, which is exactly the same average price per weight in December of 2019 before the pandemic. Ranchers thought this was good news. However the recover into 2021 has been someone one sided.
As packers increase prices, the recovery for the ranchers is at a disproportionate rate with backers taking an almost 10% margin swing away from the ranchers. Why are we letting this happen?
Packers are notorious for this behavior.
This isn’t the first time the industry has had to deal with the conglomerate oligopoly of The Big Four. Tactics have been floated by the limited processing facilities that have USDA approval to drive down supply and buy less beef. Yes this causes the prices to jump, but the packers have already established that the public is willing to keep paying a higher price, and they will blame inflation, rather than predatory practices.
How the free market is countering
One thing you might have noticed is Facebook groups, farmers markets, and even local meat markets are re-opening! This is us trying to cut out the middle man. We now have local mobile butchers that will come and field dress our cattle on our land, and we will gladly bring you your favorite cuts of meat to the local farmers market in a city nearest you. You can also find our products popping up in local meat markets and butcher shops. We are fighting to get rid of the Perdue’s, Sanderson’s, Glazier’s and all of the middle men who merely process the food we eat and take the lion’s share of the profit, leaving farming communities answering to the banks for that years’ operating loans.
Hopefully this gives a little insight into the current state of affairs out in the ranch, and something to think about when you fire up that grill this weekend. Happy Memorial Day from the middle of nowhere.
Michael:
Can you send me your write up and I will fix it and post it for you.
Bill
Senate Republicans Block Capitol Riot Inquiry in Show of Loyalty to Trump The 54-35 vote killed the best chance for an independent accounting of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.The senators feared an investigation would remind voters of the consequences of former President Trump’s election lies and how the G.O.P. indulged them.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/28/us/politics/capitol-riot-commission-republicans.html
WASHINGTON — Republicans on Friday blocked the creation of an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, using their filibuster power in the Senate for the first time this year to doom a full accounting of the deadliest attack on Congress in centuries.The vote was a stark display of loyalty to former President Donald J. Trump and political self-interest by Republicans determined to shield themselves from an inquiry that could tarnish their party. They feared an investigation that would remind voters of the consequences of Mr. Trump’s election lies and how Republican lawmakers indulged them, spurring their supporters to violence.It all but guaranteed that there would be no comprehensive nonpartisan inquiry into the attack’s root causes, the former president’s conduct as his supporters threatened lawmakers and the vice president, or any connections between his allies in Congress and the rioters.While members of both political parties agreed in its immediate aftermath that an investigation was needed, most Republicans have since toiled to put the episode behind them, and some have actively sought to deny or play down the reality of what happened. …
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/covid-vaccine-honor-systems-are-ridiculous-they-sound-ncna1268876
This sort of lines up with what I at least thought was my sister’s joke about telling the vaccinated from the unvaccinated because the vaccinated witll have masks on.
The author picks an odd example for sure. Dental offices – at least in Wisconsin – are being treated as medical facilities (which they are) and there is nothing happening in them that is different for vaccinated patients or unvaccinated ones. Asking about vaccinations in a dental office has no real practical impact on anyone. Everyone in the waiting room will be masked and when receiving treatment, everyone has to take their masks off. She also undercuts what I think her argument is supposed to be by acknowledging that the vaccinated certainly could get COVID. So it seems to me that the important point is whether or not a person is currently infected. Hence the temperature taking and the survey seem more critical of then asking about vaccination.
Stepping away from this dentist office, I think very few public places have ever asked for proof of this. Maybe after the new mask guidance was announced businesses and others thought that asking would be very conflictive, and so decided not to ask, but their policies really are not from experiencing conflict since they never tried otherwise. There are as many reports of abusive vaccinated people at the Piggly Wiggly as unvaccinated ones: zero in both cases.
I appreciate her concern. I walk through Costco and feel like the number of masks I see are lower than the probable population percentage of not fully vaccinated. But I don’t worry about it. My state and the towns I shop in do not have any mask mandates remaining in force. Shopping maskless, going to a restaurant maskless, going to Cub Scouts maskless are all legal regardless of vaccination status. If those places want an honor system to encourage masking, that’s better than nothing.
In regards to the January 6, 2021 commission, if a the fear is that simply aggregating information from criminal cases coming from the events won’t answer key questions, then go back and make a commission offer that might entice more Republicans to support. It is pretty clear that the major Republican problem with this commission is that it kind of starts out with the notion that Trump’s complaints about the election were a big lie. I live about 5 miles south of the Green Bay WI city line and it sure does not look like a big lie as the conduct of the election in that city gets revealed more and more. So make the commission a dual purpose commission with broad authority not subject to veto by either party to compel evidence about January 6 and also about every aspect of the 2020 election that troubles Republicans. Since it all a big lie, Democrats are going to be okay with this, right?
Eric:
“then go back and make a commission offer that might entice more Republicans to support” and “starts out with the notion that Trump’s complaints about the election were a big lie.”
Is that you Susan? There is no proposal Democrats could make which would placate you or Republicans other than remove Biden from office and bring the lying racist and misogynistic trump back in office again.
Who called up the Georgia SOS and literally told him to find the number of votes plus one which would over turn the election in Georgia. Mind you the SOS Brad Raffensperger is no friend to minorities and voters alike as he like the governor has been instrumental in stripping voters from the rolls under false pretense. He refused to lie for trump, rightfully so, and he recognized the spotlight would be on him later rather than the liar trump. Georgia has a Repub governor and legislature and they are doing everything they can to stymie future votes by minorities, the disabled, and the elderly.
Lets talk about Wisconsin. I lived there for 12 years, 2 of which I was cutting down trees, gaffing up them, and chipping wood so I could keep my family there till I found better work suitable to my education. Yea, I hobnobbed with the less than desirables who did not have the brains to know they were being played. You are not dumb though and you are being malicious in your desire to disenfranchise people and the vote.
Wisconsin has had a Repub legislature gerrymandered into perpetual existence. It has the power to do pretty much what it pleases. It has or had a Repub sponsored SC in place to mostly support Repub political interests. Yet, the state has voted Dem in national elections since 1988 with the exception of trump’s reign of 4 years. Michigan has done the same since 1992. Why is that? You can not gerrymander a national election.
Michigan has a Repub legislature and has own the Senate since 1983 and the House mostly since 1992. Up till Gretchen, Repubs have had Governorship two of three times since 92 and a trifecta two of three times. Since 1992, Michigan has voted for Dem presidents with the exception of trump who won by less than 1% in 2016 due to the anybody but trump or Clinton vote. In Michigan you can mostly gerrymander state elections but you can not do it with state elections. Right now, state Repubs have sat on $millions of Fed Covid funds in an attempt to force Gretchen to do their bidding. How noble of the bastards, heh?
In Pennsylvania, there is a Repub legislature also. In Arizona, there is a Repub legislature. Georgia has a Repub legislature and Kemp is also. The premise here is since they voted for Biden it must be “the notion that Biden winning was a big lie.” You start off your commentary with a complaint about everyone saying “Trump’s complaints about the election were a big lie.” They were and still are a big lie and you wish to change it to Biden’s winning is a big lie. No . . .
The Republican Party has become the party of supposition, conjecture, innuendo, and if none of that works than lie and confuse the people who you are talking to cast doubt. This is what you are a part of with your continuous babble in support of the lying, racist, misogynistic trump back in office again. In each state, trump contests, there were Repub legislatures and even some governors too. You can’t lie trump back into office again.
Lets talk about the Republican gerrymandered legislature controlling the state of Wisconsin. They do control the state and the figurehead governor often times is bent to their will. It is your contention that the taking of money from left – leaning organizations to fund voting in various cities is wrong? If I read the Milwaukee Journal or Fox News there is a lot of conjecture, supposition and innuendo going on back nothing concrete about the Green Bay Mayor. In 2016, Trump won Brown by 13,000. In 2020, Trump won Brown County by 10,000 votes or 7% over Biden. It was not even close.
Is it just because a left – leaning org. gave money to various cities to fund elections? States are notorious for fleecing cities for funds to run the states. Look at Detroit, a city which is responsible for 40+% of the state’s GDP, Repubs and Snyder literally took funds from the city which might have kept it out of bankruptcy. Gotta have something to dole out when you cut taxes for the wealthy.
If you do think a left leaning group should not even have the appearance of a potential (and false) influence in an election, than maybe the stae should have considered the Koch Bros Org. giving $million to influence elections in Wisconsin too. Do you think Wisconsin Repubs will complain, whine, and block their influence in Wisconsin? Not likely.
Just some more what-aboutisms by Repubs and you Eric.
Eric,Your comments on the GB election perfectly match the trumpists comments on the election, right up to the point where absolutely no proof of any kind is ever offered.”People are saying” means nothing.
@Eric377, Amazingly I must agree with you in a general sense, kind of, sort of. It is entirely sufficient that Trump has been removed from the office of POTUS. The aftermath is nothing more than political showmanship and naked opportunism. Trump is POTUS no more and nothing can change that. If Trump attempts a return run for the White House, then there are several ways to handle that. The back story is one of political pandering over issues surrounding our legacy of racism in the US. One side seems to want to embroil our republic in a race war, an uncivil civil war. In any civil war, then neither side has a home field advantage. So, civil wars are always wars of attrition. However, attrition in matters of war only count on the death rates of combatants, those with both the means and the will to kill the other side. Performing the math of attrition in a race war with total population statistics by race can easily lead to false conclusions. Be careful what you wish for. As in most things American these days then truth and competence are far more likely to be illusionary phantoms than anything close to reality. That is what happens when a civilization chooses to outsource its intelligence and wisdom to follow self-serving elites.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/29/us/gun-purchases-ownership-pandemic.html?smid=tw-share
https://53eig.ht/3ezaaoG
The good guys win one! (For now.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/31/us/politics/texas-voting-bill.html?smid=tw-share
My gut is not having a commission is what Democrats are happiest with. Not having a commission and insinuating that there would be really critical revelations but for those awful Republicans is optimal. Discussing why “killing” Officer Sicknick was part of the House impeachment might be less optimal. Anyway, lengthy counterposts notwithstanding, if your counterpary can deny you your objective but you can expand the offer with something that might make it harder for them to deny your objective and in a manner that has little cost to you, then normally you try that. I think a “big lie” commission fits here because that is the fulcrum of January 6 anyway. Not trying is interesting, but possibly behind the scenes Shumer is working with McConnell on something. I doubt it, because of what I think the true interest in Democrats actually is with this commission, but it is possible.
No wonder Wisconsin is so fucked up.