103. When Cattle Prices Are High, Stop Looking at Price and Start Looking at Relationships with Wally Olson

103. When Cattle Prices Are High, Stop Looking at Price and Start Looking at Relationships with Wally Olson

June 23, 2026 · 28 min · Episode 103

About this episode

John Haskell and Wally Olson discuss the importance of market relationships over cattle prices for profitability.

Record cattle prices can create just as many challenges as opportunities. In this episode, John Haskell and Wally Olson discuss why producers should stop focusing on headline prices and start paying attention to the relationships within the market. Whether you're in the stocker business or the cow-calf sector, profitability comes from understanding value, costs, and margin, not from chasing the highest prices. The conversation explores value of gain, market volatility, cow herd turnover, and the importance of making decisions based on current opportunities rather than past prices or future forecasts. Using real-world examples, John and Wally walk through how to start looking at relationships to evaluate trades, identify where profit actually exists, and avoid getting emotionally attached to inventory. Make sure to hit subscribe/follow so you never miss an episode! In this episode, we cover: Why profitability is determined by relationships and margins, not cattle prices alone How to evaluate opportunities using value of gain calculations Why market volatility can create profit opportunities for prepared operators The case for cow herd turnover and focusing on overvalued versus…

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