Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is talking with the president of the Livestock Marketing Association, Mark Barnett, about marketing to today’s consumer.
Barnett has one more year as president of the LMA, as he is serving a two-year term. He operates a cattle livestock auction market on the Kentucky-Tennessee line.
“The best thing to say about the business right now is that the cattle market is good,” Barnett said. “Commission will be better if you are operating on commission.”
Cattle numbers are down, Barnett said, which contributes to those higher prices.
“Probably, our feed is going to get a little bit better priced in the next year or so, and that will help us some, but our numbers in our area probably have changed, and I would say our numbers are probably not going to change back to those numbers we had 10 to 15 years ago,” Barnett said. “The land use has changed. The concern for us is producers are getting older.”
Barnett said he has many long-time customers that he started with that have informed him they are on their last crop, or last sale recently.
“Land is valuable to the point where they can sell it and probably too valuable to run the cattle on,” Barnett said. “So, it is a concern for us in our business, as we see some of those that step out. We don’t have that young generation that wants to step in and do some of the things they have done over the years.”
Barnett also talked about changing technology impacting different auction markets across the country.
“If you don’t change with the times, the times will move on by you,” Barnett said. “It is in the marketing just like it is in the farming. The better job you do, the better you are paid, now.”
It is critical now to share agriculture’s story, Barnett said, as today’s consumer needs to be reminded that their food is safe, whereas decades ago, that was not an issue.
“We have become very conscientious about the way we raise our cattle and the way we handle them,” Barnett said. “We know that as that consumer changes demographics and age, we have to be more transparent.”
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
