Weird times for cattle in Argentina

A little update on that beefy goodness we all love down Argentine way.

As I´ve mentioned before, prices for cattle on the hoof have more than tripled.  My missus and I got a first hand taste of that yesterday at an auction near our ranch.

It´s hard to figger what these buyers are planning for castrated calves that need a lot of fattening.  Sure, the bottom has fallen out of corn prices, so feed is cheap.  However, at the prices being paid, even with cheap corn, the prices they will need after fattening will have to be even more extraordinary ...or they will take a loss.  Most likely, they´ll be able to pass their costs along and we´ll all be paying even higher prices at the supermercado for beef that doesn´t taste much different from any other beef producing nation.

They´ll probably call it "grass-fed / grain-finished."  Yeah, right.

Or we could be looking at something new.

Many ranchers here have elected to get out of the cow bidness.  Not all have plowed up their pastures for corn and soybeans.  That leaves lots of grassland right now in Argentina with no crops and no cows.

If you have cows at this moment, you can find vacant pastures with lots of grass.  Once springtime comes, there will be even more luscious grass in those pastures ...the kind that fattens cows and calves deliciously.

The trick is actually having those cows.  If you don´t have them at this moment, however, it´s going to cost you to get into the game.

Maybe these buyers are trying to get into the game at the top of the market.  God bless them; anyway you look at it, though, it could mean more grass-fed beef at lower prices for consumers.

It will be interesting to watch.  Keep watching here.  I´ll try to keep you informed.