I’ve spent five decades and four years studying generations of cattle, so I decided to peruse my own generation on the Internet. I discovered— My grandchildren are the last members of Generation Y. I married a “Baby Boomer” and am a member of the “Silent Generation.” Upon informing Phyllis and Lillian of my “silent” status, both erupted in raucous laughter, shook their heads in disbelief, and muttered indistinguishable words under their breaths.
But there was no disagreement about our parents’ generation being the “Greatest Generation,” as dubbed by Tom Brokaw in his book of that name.

They were victorious in World War II, rebuilt vanquished foes, fostered democracy, and built the U.S. into an economic juggernaut that’s still the envy of the world. And they did it on the heels of a devastating economic depression that America hadn’t experienced before or since.
I don’t remember much about WWII except for the vivid memory of my mother sobbing for a fallen soldier after receiving a long distance phone call. She wouldn’t answer a long distance call until after the war was over.

I was born after the Depression, but was reminded of it occasionally when growing up. One incident that’s imbedded in my mind— Dad and Grandpa were partners on “the home place.” Dad’s voice quivered as he told me, “We sold our fat cattle to make the farm payment— “The next day, Roosevelt closed the banks.” He didn’t say much more, except “We came within a whisker of losing everything.”

Congressmen blamed everyone but themselves for the Wall Street meltdown and declared the crisis as critical as the Great Depression.
I opposed the taxpayer funded trillion dollar bail out for the billionaires who made loans to people who didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of ever paying them off.

Both Senators Obama and McCain voted for the billionaire bail out. I reluctantly agreed that it probably was making the best out of a bad situation.

I invited my banker and friend, Roger Kerndt, to make a farm visit. He reassured me the Liberty Bank is sound financially and that agriculture is an important part of Liberty Bank’s portfolio. Roger also told me that most other ag banks are sound.

I called my friend and confidant, Jack Nemec, loan officer at the F&M Bank, West Point, Nebraska. His assessment: “Like it or not, fear has replaced some optimism, and price volatility in the commodity markets and increased costs for agricultural inputs raises the level of risk for ag lenders.” “Cattle prices have already been impacted over the last few weeks, but the reduction of numbers as we move into the first and second quarters of next year should be favorable to prices. We must remember that profitability will also be impacted by the competitive price of reduced feeder numbers as we currently are only filling up 61 percent of the national feedlot capacity.”

Roger Kerdnt and Jack Nemec aren’t the only pros who believe in the American economy. During this period of global panic, every major currency in the world has dropped in value except the American Dollar and the Chinese Yuan which both have had significant gains in value. The world’s smart money is betting on America. So am I.

j. david nichols