Today I read an article about the closing of 2,000 feed lots in the United States last year. According to this article, the rising prices for young cattle, high feed costs and drought conditions in cattle country are to blame. High costs and drought conditions are old news. Its in just about every industry publication I pick up. I wasn’t aware of so many feed lot closings though. No doubt this is going to set some ranchers back and possibly hurt sale barns that broker the cattle. However, the loss of conventional ranchers may well be a gain for ranchers who raise their stock on grass. Barring several years of drought in a row, pasture land won’t be shutting down like feed lots. As for the sale barns, is there opportunity here for specialty grass-fed genetics sales? I believe that some ranchers will have to rethink their production models and will be looking for stock that doesn’t require a creep feeder at an early age.