Farmgate, one of my daily reads, has an article today on the status and future of cattle farming.

The long and short of it is that drought conditions combined with rising corn prices courtesy of ethanol demand are not doing the cattle farmer any favors. An average $49 profit a head (small to begin with) has turned into a $97 per head loss.

LGMI, which Farmgate describes is accurately as "crop insurance for cowboys," is available in 20 states, including Texas, and can help a little. But it has deductibles and inclusion limits.

The bottom line for cattle farmers is that for the time being a thin margin is getting thinner.

It gets harder and harder for the farmers who have fed this country for 230 years.