Death comes to us all. Life's but a walking shadow | They have been after me for several months, at least once a week and again last night (late).
You realize of course that you, me and thousands of others like us are the reason the USDA reports are so very inaccurate.
That said, I steadfastly refuse for the following reason. Up until ten years ago I tried to be a cattle farmer even after I discovered direct evidence that the two packers who buy in this area were completely colluding to fix prices. As I thought about the market here I realized something. The packers don't need to know how many cattle I own, in county or even the state. If they know how many cattle and the age classes in the Eastern US they had all the information they needed to predict supply. It was that simple. Cattle develop on a regular very predictable schedule. So I decided that the only thing I could do to influence the price was to withhold information. If the packers don't know how many cattle and the age classes there is some small uncertainty in supply and maybe just enough to help some other cattle farmer make a little money. Besides in any other business that kind of information would be strictly confidential. Does Microsoft tell Apple how many computers they have sold, not likely.
Also, how do you actually know that the caller is from USDA? There are any number of private information firms that could make great use of your information. |
USDA Ag Censes Report phone call
