Sort & Cull

Late Friday afternoon, news broke that an atypical case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) was found in a five-year old cow at a slaughterhouse in South Carolina. The cow was condemned soon after and never entered the food-supply chain. Even so, however, both the live cattle and feeder cattle markets were trading lower throughout most of Monday's market -- so, I can't help but think that part of Monday's weakness is due to that news.

Click here to read DTN Ag Policy Editor Chris Clayton's article on the atypical BSE case: https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Which leads to my main point. Not all news needs to affect the market. On one hand, I'm thankful for the technology that we have access to; on the other hand, I'd be lying to you if I said it didn't sometimes create more heartache for the market than necessary.

On one particularly volatile day in the marketplace, I called a market mentor of mine and expressed my frustrations to him. I ranted about how I was frustrated that today's market environment is so fragile and can be affected by merely any news development, regardless of whether it's deserving of the market's attention or not. It was at that point he reminded me your cattle are worth whatever you can sell them for on any specific day ... period. This will forever be a lesson I keep in the back of my mind and hold on to dearly.

I don't think the atypical BSE announcement will affect the market much past Monday's trade. But moving forward, I hope as market participants, we can better discern what news needs to affect the market and what news is simply external chatter.

ShayLe Stewart can be reached at ShayLe.Stewart@dtn.com

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