The Merriam-Webster online dictionary provides the following as a definition of religion: “a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.” Interesting! Notice that first word – “cause.” A synonym for cause could be activism, don’t you agree? If you ponder for a moment the activist movements that champion animal rights and environmentalism, you may find yourself thinking that activism is a new religion.

Three miles southwest of Ashland, tall shade trees guard the Platte River Valley. It is in this valley that Larry Smith started his first purebred Angus cattle herd. Smith began his one-year term as Nebraska Cattlemen president at the annual convention in Kearney Nov. 28-30.

A number of outside forces influence livestock prices – the cost of pasture ground, the abundance of rain, the outlay for corn, the proximity of an ethanol plant, and the rise and fall of the futures market. Ultimately though, livestock prices are determined in the various markets where the animals are sold, whether cried out by an auctioneer in the sale ring, the marketing expert at the terminal market or the individual producer by way of private treaty sales.