Ore. - Among agricultural commodities, beef is the good news this fall.
Demand is up.
Prices received by producers are rising. You used to be able to count on some good years and you knew you were going to have some bad years, but you ride it out to the good years. And now, it goes up and down with a lot more outside influences that you never had before. Measured by U.S. Department of Agriculture's inventory of cattle, the high point in the most recent herd buildup was sometime between late 1996 and early 1997. It's been a tough three years since.