I personally and our operation would not be very far in line behind Ben's.  I understand cow size and have survived on fescue pasture as a forage base all my life.  Been using row crops to complement livestock operation for years. My cost of production is reasonable, that's not the problem.

  I am like an abused animal and feeling the physiological effects of being beaten.  Age has crept up and realize I have built a labor intensive operation that is a dinosaur.

I started the thread because the discussion in Market Talk was such a different perspective than those of us in Stock Talk would have had. (And a lot of individuals with similar thoughts)  It kinda opened my eyes to what I personally have been thinking.

The above comment from Land&Cattle pretty much matches my thinking today, but for a different reason than he suggests.  Just tweak it to match age of operator not a youth wanting to be lazy.