# Surprises coming for voters for the Leopards-Eating-Faces Party **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [November 12, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166 "2024-11-12T19:54:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 243
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4875 "2025-11-30T00:27:28Z")
Will they recognize their mistake and move to correct it? Or will they double down on The Stupid? No bookie in the world would take that action. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4876 "2025-11-30T01:54:46Z")
I’m not a good gambler though, and I’m still going to bet against Nebraska on this one. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4877 "2025-11-30T01:55:39Z")
Could someone explain this seeming contradiction. These quotes are from one of the cites in @ThelmaLou’s cite. > [@](#): > > But in the long run, beef prices may continue to climb even higher than the [current record highs](https://apnews.com/article/beef-prices-record-high-cattle-steak-cows-e9fc33bbaec6a76fb243e277bbbb7c0e) — caused by a variety of factors from drought to tariffs — unless American ranchers decide to raise more cattle, which they have little incentive to do. So prices for beef are high in the grocery stores and could go higher. But then > [@](#): > > ranchers and feedlots struggle with high costs and falling prices. Why are the ranchers getting falling prices when consumers are getting higher prices? Can it be all due to imports? ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4878 "2025-11-30T02:32:38Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I’m still going to bet against Nebraska on this one. I live in Nebraska, I love Nebraska people and I think you are right. It will be Great Depression bad before enough of the voters get it and move the scale. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4879 "2025-11-30T02:37:39Z")
And some will never get it, like the COVID patients who lay dying in the hospital still fiercely refusing to believe in what was killing them. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4880 "2025-11-30T02:38:57Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Why are the ranchers getting falling prices when consumers are getting higher prices? Can it be all due to imports? No, it’s a lot more complicated than that. Here’s a [USDA report](https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/animal-products/cattle-beef/sector-at-a-glance) that discusses the cattle cycle and charts things like imports vs. exports over time. The US produced around 26 billion pounds in 2024, 3 billion pounds of which were exported, mostly high-quality stuff to premium markets like Japan and South Korea. Meanwhile 4.6 billion pounds were imported that year, mostly lower-quality stuff destined for places like McDonald’s and Burger King. The problem is that beef cattle production is a multi-year affair that like all farming involves a lot of luck and guesswork. Drought (plenty of that going around) and other issues like for example fertilizer tariffs can cause feed costs to boom, fuel costs wander all over the place (mostly up) and apparently there has been massive corporate consolidation in the meat-packing industry that has suppressed regional competition and affected production pricing. If per unit prices are up, but you’ve had to drastically cut your herd size because you can’t afford to feed all of them before you get them to market, you can quickly end up in a losing spiral where the per unit prices you are getting are ever higher but you are making less and less every year as your stock declines before you can get paid. That’s why it pays to diversify in farming - you can become very, very dependent on the money you make two months out of the year to carry you through the other ten months. One bad year or a few rough ones in a row can leave you destitute. Which depresses stock, which drives consumer prices ever higher. Basically it is easy to get into a situation where consumers are simultaneously paying more while producers go broke. Which ratchets consumer costs even higher because there is less product. But the barrier to steady high profits is a disincentive from most entering the production side. Being a farmer is awesome, except for much of the time when it sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4881 "2025-11-30T02:52:08Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Why are the ranchers getting falling prices when consumers are getting higher prices? Can it be all due to imports? I don’t think so. This [chart](https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/feeder-cattle) shows the highest price for feeder cattle occurred in mid-October. The price has dropped significantly since then. Trump announced the lowering of tariffs on beef (and other food products) in mid-November. But I have no clue as to why the price started to drop in October. Also, I don’t think that the closing of the Tyson plant in Nebraska can be directly tied to Trump’s policies and/or tariffs. The market forces (shrinking herds, higher production prices, etc.) were in motion before Trump took office. But if Biden is going to be blamed for the high inflation, I’m perfectly willing to blame Trump for plants closing and high prices at the grocery store. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4882 "2025-11-30T02:55:40Z")
Trump is definitely not helping the US cattle producers. Trump doesn’t give a shit. The leopards are feasting. > **[Donald Trump ‘destroying’ US cattle industry, market operator warns](https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-destroying-us-cattle-industry-market-operator-warns-11103802)** > > A livestock auctioneer has blamed the administration's actions for driving down the profits of America's ranchers. > **[Trump's Argentina beef buy riles local ranchers: 'We are baring our souls to...](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/nov/02/trumps-argentina-beef-buy-riles-local-ranchers/)** > > Rising beef prices helped Annabelle Schmidt to convince her grandfather that she could follow his footsteps and become the sixth generation of family to raise cattle on Green Bluff. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4883 "2025-11-30T12:47:42Z")
A reminder that during his first term Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum were such that prices on farm equipment shot up by 25% or more and farmers who couldn’t afford silos had to keep their crops in holes in the ground. And they still voted for him again. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4884 "2025-11-30T13:22:40Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > farmers who couldn’t afford silos had to keep their crops in holes in the ground. I do not remember that happening. Can you find a cite? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4885 "2025-11-30T13:42:54Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > I do not remember that happening. Can you find a cite? Seconded. It isn’t like you need to buy a new silo (or grain bin) every year. Those things last forever. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4886 "2025-11-30T13:53:46Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Seconded. It isn’t like you need to buy a new silo (or grain bin) every year. Those things last forever. True, but if you have a bumper crop and/or a newly expanded operation you may find yourself out of storage space. As a child (late 1960s), I remember a year where some combination of events led to the local elevators storing huge piles of corn on the some of my small hometown’s streets. My memory was a that it was a very year for corn and/or low prices people were trying to wait out, but I imagine that there were probably transport issues or dryer capacity problems also. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4887 "2025-11-30T17:01:24Z")
Building huge piles of corn or milo is not uncommon. Digging trenches or pits to store grain is. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4888 "2025-11-30T18:23:22Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > True, but if you have a bumper crop and/or a newly expanded operation you may find yourself out of storage space. It was more a double whammy - the tariffs provoked retaliatory tariffs from China on agricultural imports from the US so the crops weren’t being sold (as has happened again), leaving farmers with a surplus they couldn’t shift, which led to high demand for existing storage (driving up prices on that) and higher costs on building materials (via the 25% tariff on steel and 10% on aluminum) making building new storage immediately unviable. Which meant a lot of crops (and as now, soybeans were the hardest hit) either had to be stored in ad hoc arrangements in hopes of shifting them before they rotted, or just got left in the fields to be plowed under for the next year. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4889 "2025-11-30T18:35:42Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > …had to keep their crops in holes in the ground. _“Luxury!”_ ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_Clock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Shot\_Clock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_Clock)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4890 "2025-11-30T22:03:20Z")
I just want to go on record as saying the “reporter has pretzels for parents” crack is USDA Certified Grade A hilarious… ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4891 "2025-12-01T10:43:29Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > which led to high demand for existing storage (driving up prices on that) and higher costs on building materials (via the 25% tariff on steel and 10% on aluminum) making building new storage immediately unviable. Yup. [Cite.](https://www.reuters.com/article/business/trade-war-backfire-steel-tariff-shrapnel-hits-us-farmers-idUSKBN1HK0GV/) > [@](#): > > Lucas Strom, who runs a century-old family farm in rural Illinois, canceled an order to buy a new $71,000 grain storage bin last month [**March 2018**] - after the seller raised the price 5 percent in a day. > > The reason: steel prices jumped right after U.S. President Donald Trump announced tariffs. […] > > In Riverton, Illinois, farmer Allen Entwistle said he postponed construction of a new $800,000 storage system for grain after AGCO Corp’s GSI unit increased prices by 15 percent. > > Entwistle, who voted for Trump, will instead store corn in bags on the ground. > > “President Trump keeps telling us he’s going to get a better deal,” Entwistle said. “When are we gonna make it better?” > > AGCO said Trump’s tariffs will raise its costs and make price hikes to customers unavoidable. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4892 "2025-12-01T11:25:52Z")
More on the storage price hikes in 2018: > **[US farmers' troubles over tariffs show the value in looking ahead | Gene Marks](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/dec/02/us-farmers-trump-tariffs-farmers)** > > If you’re running a business, I hope you’re thinking of the future. Not doing so will put you in the same tight spot our farmers face ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4893 "2025-12-01T15:29:29Z")
[![](https://images.spot.im/image/upload/v200/b7c2e6a3-8bcb-470b-9b1a-2e1f93413d32) ](https://images.spot.im/image/upload/v200/b7c2e6a3-8bcb-470b-9b1a-2e1f93413d32) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/4894 "2025-12-01T15:54:20Z")
Trumpites who bought heavily into Trump-backed stock and bitcoin ventures have seen their investments [plummet in value](https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/donald-trump-djt-stock-crypto-slump-05b89b5b?mod=Searchresults&pos=1&page=1). > [@](#): > > Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group which operates the president’s Truth Social platform, have tumbled 75% since Trump’s inauguration. Digital “meme coins” named for Trump and first lady Melania Trump are down 86% and 99% since inauguration day, respectively. And one of the Trump family’s crypto ventures, a token called World Liberty Financial, has dropped roughly 40% since its September launch. > [@](#): > > Trump stocks benefited from expectations that the incoming administration would usher in an era of deregulation, tax cuts and supportive crypto policies—and that assets tied directly to Trump and his family would continue to rally. With the president’s return to the White House, though, his policies on global trade have upended some of those bets now that investors are paying more attention to the performance of those companies than to his political future. > > DJT, for example, trades at 1,240 times its annual revenues, according to FactSet. And the Trump family’s various crypto businesses, including World Liberty Financial and American Bitcoin, have been swept up in a recent drop in cryptocurrencies. > > One of many users discussing the stock on Reddit investing forums last month self-identified as a “DJT bag holder” who bought at $46 a share. The stock is now trading at $11.07. “When do I give up on this and move on?” user SimpleMindHatter asked. One feels for SimpleMindHatter, one really does. Word is, though, that the Trump Brooklyn Bridge Trust will be selling shares very soon. Better get in on the ground floor _now_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166.md?page=242) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166.md?page=244)