One of many resolutions to come out of the recent NCBA meeting was support for improvements to livestock marketing reports.

Dittmer: After struggle, NCBA agrees on mandates

Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer

The mood of this year’s National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) live cattle marketing committee meeting was a lot different than the summer meeting in 2020. That 2020 meeting lasted over six hours, involved multiple roll call votes among affiliate groups and revealed a big chasm between the mostly cow-calf and the cattle feeder organizations. The […] Read more



Are the actions you’re taking guiding you towards a long-range shared vision?

Decisions, decisions, decisions

These seven questions can help guide you to better decision-making

If there has ever been a time of information overload, today would qualify. As we try to navigate through today’s challenges, an emphasis on or improvement in decision-making can be a good addition to the management tool box. Holistic management is often described as a decision-making framework. After setting a shared goal/vision, these seven testing […] Read more

Dittmer: Toxic brews of do-gooders, politicians and bureaucrats

Dittmer: Toxic brews of do-gooders, politicians and bureaucrats

Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer

The problem with politics is that relative conservatives just want to be left alone to do things without unnecessary interference. Leftist activists want to save the world — or your world — by coercing behaviour. Which is why leftist ag groups and their enablers — leftist, big-government politicians and bureaucrats — keep trying to force […] Read more


A cow and calf in the late winter.

Comment: Managing market risk

We don’t know what 2022 has in store for us — hopefully rain at the right time and good cattle prices all through the fall. But hoping is not planning, and to plan, you need good information. So what should producers be watching in the markets as the year progresses? I asked Brian Perillat, senior […] Read more

Working with people who have different personality styles than your own can be like understanding a different language.

Finding ways to bring people together

Put a plan in place for both your family and non-family teams

As we continue in yet another year of the pandemic, it seems that there are even more instances of topics and situations that continue to divide us. Looking for new ways to navigate through the coming months with respect and creativity is important. Those of us in agriculture represent two per cent of the population. […] Read more


Even a non-farming Californian ought to question why less “cruelty” should produce fewer baby pigs and more dead sows. – Steve Dittmer.

Looking forward at progress

Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer

Sometimes in crazy times, it’s good to back up and look at the cards showing and your hole cards. Economically speaking, inflation is one key factor. A key inflation driver is fossil fuel costs. It enters in every phase of beef production beyond our magic photosynthesis machine — the cow. As both major producers and […] Read more



It’s not always true that resistance stems from a lack of desire to change or a lack of motivation.

Change management

Succession of the family business to the next generation is a major change

“Times they are a-changing. Of course times always change but in this period of rapid technological advancement and information accessibility, the change occurs even more quickly and on a larger scale. Change is a part of everyday life. To be successful and progressive we must welcome that change. It no longer works to do things […] Read more

Both cattle feeders and packers have found Alternative Marketing Agreements advantageous to making money.

NCBA musters packer procurement data into framework

Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer

I’m sure you all up North have noticed the Great Counter-Intuincy we have down here in the States. Don’t look the term up. I just invented it. But whatever common sense would intuitively indicate, our presidential administration makes the counter move. If natural gas and propane and fertilizer prices are way too high, consider shutting […] Read more