Agreed. Which means the only real future for cow/calf and domestic beef in general is to play a different game.  And there will be a good market for our beef.

Cow/calf has always been (and always will be imho) a grass-based enterprise. If we extend that grass based system and reduce the amount of expensive corn fed in finishing, marketing steers a lot lighter and sooner than recently, there are and I believe will be more, profitable marketing possibilities from there.

Feedlots will be competing even more with ethanol for corn and multiple markets for soy.

I think we cattlemen can be profitable marketing a trim, 1200-1300 lb finished steer rather than the 1500-1600 lb obesely fat corn-stuffed behemoths but it will take some changes in thinking and marketing.