I remember what the Marine recruiter told me when he was sitting at my parent’s kitchen table.  He told me it would be hard work.  He said all they would ask of me, is all I had to give.  He assured me it would be worth it.  If you were at the General Session II in San Antonio you know there were a lot of college age folks there.  They didn’t get a great deal of assurance.   I want to set the record straight for you students.

During that session one of the association’s leaders was on stage giving his speech and he had this weird bridge in there that went into macro economics, demand and profitability-or lack thereof.  He went into this whole ditty about how this year will better than last year.  “Cattlemen are the eternal optimists.  We just have to hang on long enough to turn the next corner.”  Then it came.  He said “I’ve turned the corner so many times awaiting profit that I passed myself going around the block”  Was that supposed to be cute?  

I sat wondering what was going through the minds of those college students.  They just heard that there was little to no money in our industry, and that when they apply for a job they will be sold on the concept of being a part of something.  I wondered if they remember the one speaker on the panel that touched on capitalism.  He stated that with it you can fail and still be able to get back on your feet and make a comeback and still be a success.  My guess is those kids remember the “around the block” part.

I want to keep this blog short, so I won’t get into a lot of detail.  Here’s what I want you college folks to understand. With all this talk about macro economics, demand, trade, rising costs, and so on,  imagine a funnel.  All that information gets poured into that funnel.  What happens then is what really matters.  It all gets funneled to a small point of where the dollar really meets the cattlemen’s hand.  We call this a bid.  I don’t understand this obsession of trying to trace backwards up the funnel to figure out how or why we got to this point.  It doesn’t matter!  That is the point we are at right now.   Take the profits the market gives you.  Don’t try to hold out for the big home run.  Forecasting is even more dangerous! Take small profit margins and do it quickly.  This will add up to a lot over the course of twelve months.  Let me tell ya,  the IRS will like to see you at tax time.

So here’s what I want you young go getters to do.  I want you to think of me as your recruiter.  I’m recruiting you to be a part of a profitable and rewarding industry.  It’s gonna be a lot of hard work.  My  advice to you is go to a marketing school.  Not though your university, or extension, or some type of analysts type of organization.  It may cost you a few hundred bucks and a couple days of your time.  It’ll be worth it.  And you won’t have to cloud your mind with all the stuff that is in that dirty funnel. 

If any of you want to become full time cattlemen, you can do it.  It will take a while.  The journey will test your desire to reach your goal.  Things will go wrong.  The environment will challenge you physically and mentally.  You will make a bad decision every now and then.  It will take a huge commitment.  Just smile into the face of adversity until it surrenders.  It is a great feeling when you can quit your off the farm job.  Just keep asking yourself, do you want to work for the man or be the man?

Now for a different train of thought.  Back to the terrible remarks about the profit potential in the cattle biz.  If all this fancy talk about demand, and macro economics is really the factor that affects my ability to make a buck, have your calculator and pencil handy.  Be prepared to show your work and explain it to me.  I’m willing to show you my work, and a tax return for bonus points!