[ppaul]

Thanks for the analysis.
Of course, like I said, I am sure the farmer gets no benefit whatsoever from the increased prices.

[SAJ]

Actually, many cattle growers are in the very best of times -- depends completely on the organisation of their operation. Prices ARE high for their product; assuming only that they've hedged their costs decently well and are keeping close watch on the marketing side, they should be profiting handsomely. The more traditional, non-marketing-oriented, operations are probably doing just marginally, however.