E Bar S Ranch

E Bar S Ranch A family owned buisness that has a cow calf operation and horse training/ boarding facility, cabin/

⛽ AMERICA PRODUCES A LOT OF OIL. SO WHY IS DIESEL STILL SO EXPENSIVE?It's a fair question—especially in agriculture, whe...
09/05/2026

⛽ AMERICA PRODUCES A LOT OF OIL. SO WHY IS DIESEL STILL SO EXPENSIVE?

It's a fair question—especially in agriculture, where diesel is one of those expenses that shows up everywhere.

If America is producing huge amounts of oil, and we're now talking about bringing more Venezuelan oil production online, why aren't we seeing cheap fuel at the pump? And why can the price change almost overnight?

The first thing to understand is this:

CRUDE OIL IS NOT DIESEL.

Crude oil is the raw material. Before it reaches a tractor or pickup, it has to be transported, refined into usable fuel, distributed through terminals and pipelines, hauled to the retailer and taxed.

So the price at the pump is really several costs stacked together:

**CRUDE OIL

REFINING

SUPPLY & DEMAND

TRANSPORTATION/DISTRIBUTION

TAXES

RETAIL COSTS**

That's why crude oil can decline without diesel immediately falling the same amount.

And right now, refining is a big piece of the story.

EIA reported September 4 that refinery “crack spreads”—basically the difference between crude-oil costs and the value of the fuels refineries produce—are elevated. Global disruptions have tightened supplies of refined fuels, so simply having crude oil available doesn't automatically mean there's an abundance of diesel available.

So why can fuel prices change every day?

Because oil and fuel are traded in markets that react constantly to what's happening—or what traders believe might happen.

A refinery goes down.

A hurricane threatens the Gulf Coast.

A pipeline has problems.

Inventories fall.

Demand increases.

OPEC changes production.

A war threatens shipping routes.

Trucking, farming or seasonal demand increases.

Any of those can move wholesale fuel prices, sometimes before anything has physically changed at the local gas station.

And America's oil market isn't isolated from the rest of the world.

We can simultaneously produce oil, import oil, export oil, refine oil and export finished petroleum products.

That's an important distinction.

Having a lot of crude oil does not necessarily mean having a surplus of diesel.

EIA has been forecasting U.S. distillate inventories—which include diesel—to remain below their recent five-year average because of tight global diesel supplies.

🇻🇪 WHAT ABOUT VENEZUELA?

This is another piece people are going to hear a lot about.

There are major new efforts underway to increase Venezuelan oil production. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said this week that expected projects could more than double Venezuela's oil production over the next several years.

Chevron alone announced plans for more than $7 billion in investment aimed at roughly doubling its Venezuelan production within five years.

That could eventually add significant crude supply to the world market and put downward pressure on oil prices.

But notice the timeline:

YEARS—not next Tuesday.

Venezuela's oil industry has suffered from years of underinvestment and infrastructure problems. Production that exceeded 3 million barrels per day in the 1990s has been running around 1.1–1.2 million barrels per day recently. Bringing wells, pipelines, power infrastructure and other equipment back online takes time.

There's another wrinkle: much of Venezuela's crude is heavy, high-sulfur crude, which isn't interchangeable barrel-for-barrel with the lighter crude produced in many U.S. fields. Different refineries are configured to process different crude slates.

So again:

MORE OIL DOESN'T AUTOMATICALLY MEAN CHEAPER DIESEL TOMORROW.

🚜 AND THIS IS WHY AGRICULTURE CARES.

For somebody commuting to work, higher fuel prices hurt at the pump.

For a farm or ranch, fuel is an operating expense built into nearly everything we do.

Diesel goes into tractors.

It goes into hay equipment.

Feed trucks.

Cattle trucks.

Skid steers.

Dozers.

Harvest equipment.

Then there's the diesel burned by the trucks bringing feed, fertilizer, fencing supplies, equipment and parts to the ranch.

And more fuel gets burned hauling cattle, crops and food away from it.

That's why a 30¢, 50¢ or $1 increase in diesel doesn't stop at the fuel pump.

It works its way through the food supply chain.

The cattle still have to be fed.
The hay still has to be baled.
The feed still has to be hauled.
The fields still have to be worked.
The cattle still have to make it to market.

A rancher can't tell the cows:

“Diesel is expensive this week. We'll feed you when it comes back down.”

The work still has to happen.

And that's one reason energy prices matter so much to agriculture.

So when diesel suddenly jumps while you're hearing about record American oil production or new oil deals overseas, remember:

The amount of crude oil being produced is only ONE part of the price you see at the pump.

Refining capacity, diesel inventories, global demand, exports, transportation, taxes, geopolitical events and refinery margins all matter too.

🇺🇸 American energy and American agriculture are tied together a lot more closely than most people realize.

09/04/2026

Culverts, drainage, washed-out roads and driveway work — get it taken care of before the next big rain finds the problem for you.

5S Land & Cattle | 254-485-9159

There is a lot happening in the world right now, and it can be easy to look at all of it and wonder what one person coul...
09/04/2026

There is a lot happening in the world right now, and it can be easy to look at all of it and wonder what one person could possibly do about any of it.

Maybe the answer is to stop trying to change the whole world at once.

Start at home. Start in your community.

Pay attention to the school board. Know who sits on the city council and county government. Learn who is running in local elections—not just the names at the top of the ballot. Support local businesses. Help the neighbor who needs it. Volunteer. Get involved. Raise children who understand responsibility, service and the difference between right and wrong.

And don't overlook the local church.

A healthy community isn't built in Washington. It's built around kitchen tables, in churches, schools, businesses, volunteer organizations, farms, ranches and neighborhoods. It's built by ordinary people deciding that the place God put them is worth taking care of.

National elections matter. State elections matter. But local elections can affect everyday life in ways people often underestimate, and they are one of the places an individual voice can carry tremendous weight.

Imagine what would happen if people all across this country quit waiting for somebody hundreds or thousands of miles away to fix everything and instead started working on the communities
directly in front of them.

One person can't fix America alone.

But one person can make a difference in a family.
A family can make a difference in a church.
A church can make a difference in a community.
And thousands of stronger communities can make a stronger country.

Have faith in God's plan. Pray for the country. Vote. Serve. Get involved. Help your neighbor. Support your church.

If you want to change the world, start where God planted you. 🇺🇸

09/03/2026

Gus heard the tractor was headed to the barn and said, “I ain't walking.”

A cheetah was placed in a race with several dogs to see who was the fastest.When the race began, the dogs took off—but t...
09/03/2026

A cheetah was placed in a race with several dogs to see who was the fastest.

When the race began, the dogs took off—but the cheetah never moved.

When asked why, the response was simple:
“Sometimes trying to prove that you are the best is an insult.”

There’s a lesson in that.

Not every challenge deserves a response. Not every argument needs to be won. Not every person questioning your ability deserves a demonstration.

Sometimes maturity is knowing exactly what you're capable of and having enough confidence that you don't need everyone else to know it.

You don't have to prove yourself everywhere.

Let the work speak. Let the results speak. And sometimes, just stay out of races you never needed to enter.

🇺🇸 SHOULD YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR BEEF CAME FROM?Walk through a grocery store and pick up a package of chicken.Country of or...
09/03/2026

🇺🇸 SHOULD YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR BEEF CAME FROM?

Walk through a grocery store and pick up a package of chicken.

Country of origin labeling applies.

Pick up lamb.

Country of origin labeling applies.

Pick up certain seafood, fruits, vegetables and other commodities.

Country of origin labeling applies.
Pick up beef? That's where things get interesting.

Beef and pork were removed from America's mandatory Country of Origin Labeling—or COOL—requirements in 2015.

So why did we get rid of it?

It wasn't simply because somebody decided consumers didn't need to know.

Canada and Mexico challenged the U.S. labeling system through the World Trade Organization. The WTO found that the way our rules required livestock to be tracked and segregated placed imported Canadian and Mexican livestock at a competitive disadvantage.

After years of disputes and changes to the rule, the United States still lost.

By late 2015, Canada and Mexico had received authorization to retaliate against U.S. products with tariffs totaling roughly $1 billion per year combined.

Congress repealed mandatory COOL for beef and pork.

And for more than a decade, beef has remained outside the mandatory federal COOL program.
But something important changed this year.
Beginning January 1, 2026, USDA tightened the rules surrounding the voluntary labels “Product of USA” and “Made in the USA.”

For a single-ingredient beef product to carry those claims, the animal now has to be:

🇺🇸 Born in the United States
🇺🇸 Raised in the United States
🇺🇸 Slaughtered in the United States
🇺🇸 Processed in the United States

That's a major improvement in truthfulness for beef that chooses to carry the label.

But here's the distinction consumers need to understand:

It still isn't mandatory Country of Origin Labeling.

A company isn't required under COOL to put that U.S.-origin claim on every package of beef.

So why does mandatory origin labeling matter?

Because consumers can't choose American beef if they don't know which beef is American.

American cattle producers compete in a global marketplace. Imported beef plays a legitimate role in the U.S. beef supply, and putting a country on the package doesn't mean foreign beef is automatically unsafe or inferior.

It's about transparency.

If consumers prefer beef from an animal born and raised on an American ranch, they should be able to identify it.

If they're comfortable buying beef originating somewhere else, they should be able to make that choice too.

That's what a label does.

And what could that mean for American ranchers?

If consumers are willing to seek out and potentially pay a premium for verifiably American beef, accurate origin labeling gives American cattle something extremely valuable:

Product differentiation.

Instead of American-produced beef becoming harder to distinguish from imported product once everything reaches the meat case, producers and processors using American cattle can market exactly what they're selling.

USDA itself says the new voluntary U.S.-origin standard could allow premiums associated with those claims to benefit producers and processors using American beef.

Would mandatory COOL automatically raise
cattle prices?

No.

Would it rebuild America's cow herd?

No.

Would it make imported beef disappear?

No—and that's not necessarily the goal.

But it would give consumers another piece of information when deciding where to spend their money.

And in a time when America is talking about rebuilding its cattle herd, supporting domestic production and increasing transparency in the beef supply chain, that seems like a conversation worth having.

American ranchers shouldn't be afraid of telling consumers where their beef came from.
And American consumers shouldn't have to guess.

So here's the question:

Should every package of beef sold in an American grocery store tell you the country where that animal was born, raised and slaughtered?

Yes or no?

And more importantly—would seeing “Born, Raised & Harvested in the USA” influence which package YOU put in your cart?

Sources: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service • USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service • USDA Economic Research Service • World Trade Organization

09/01/2026

Your driveway shouldn’t require 4-wheel drive. 😂 Let 5S Land & Cattle get your next project taken care of!

Driveways • House/Shop Pads • Drainage • Land Clearing • Grading • Dirt Work • Trenching

📍 Hico, TX & surrounding areas
📞 254-485-9159

09/01/2026

Last dog of the day: obedience dog.

Sheep: “Perfect. Now’s our chance.” 😂

08/31/2026

If anybody finds any of the 3 let us know 😂

WHAT DOES REBUILDING AMERICA'S COW HERD ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE?We've spent the last several posts looking at beef prices, ri...
08/29/2026

WHAT DOES REBUILDING AMERICA'S COW HERD ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE?

We've spent the last several posts looking at beef prices, rising production expenses, shrinking cattle numbers and how long it actually takes to produce beef.

So now comes the obvious question:

If America needs more cattle, why don't ranchers just raise more?

Here's what that actually looks like.

The U.S. beef cow herd peaked at roughly 31.64 million cows in 2019.

By January 1, 2026, it had fallen to approximately 27.61 million.

That's 4.03 MILLION fewer beef cows—a 12.7% decline.

To simply get back to the cow numbers we had in 2019, America needs roughly 4 million additional cows in the breeding herd.

And we can't manufacture them.

A heifer retained today has to grow until she's approximately 14–15 months old before breeding. She carries her first calf for roughly nine months and typically calves around two years old.

Then her calf has another production cycle ahead of it.

USDA describes the problem this way: a retained female generally won't produce her first calf until about two years of age, and that calf can require approximately another 18 months before slaughter.

In other words, retaining a heifer today doesn't put more beef in the grocery store tomorrow.
It actually does the opposite at first.

That heifer is withheld from the beef supply so she can become a cow and produce beef in the future.

And retaining enough heifers to rebuild doesn't mean every retained heifer adds one cow to the national herd.

Every year we're also replacing cows that are culled, die, become open, develop health problems or otherwise leave production.
Replacements have to cover those losses first. Only the females above that number actually grow the herd.

That's why the scale matters.

For perspective, if the beef cow herd eventually achieved a hypothetical 2% NET growth rate every year, it would still take roughly seven years to climb from 27.6 million cows back to approximately the 31.6 million we had in 2019.

At 3% net growth every year, it would still take roughly five years.

Those aren't forecasts. They're simple illustrations of just how large a four-million-cow deficit really is.

And according to Oklahoma State, we're not there yet.

At the beginning of 2026, beef replacement heifer numbers were up only 0.9%, suggesting the very early stages of retention. OSU reported that little or no actual herd rebuilding was indicated for 2026.

Historically, one indicator of genuine expansion has been females falling below about 47% of total cattle slaughter. In June, that number was still 48.8%. Oklahoma State estimated it could take another 6–10 months just to reach that expansion threshold.

And here's perhaps the most important part:

During the previous four cattle expansions, female slaughter remained below that expansion threshold for an average of 35 months.

Nearly three years of sustained female retention on average.

All while those ranchers are giving up today's historically valuable heifer check to invest in tomorrow's cow herd.

That's why rebuilding America's cow herd isn't simply a matter of telling ranchers to produce more.

It requires years of favorable economics, available grass and feed, manageable input costs, adequate moisture and enough confidence in the future for producers to retain valuable females instead of selling them.

USDA describes the entire cattle cycle as typically lasting 8–12 years because cattle simply cannot respond to changes in supply and demand as quickly as other livestock species.

So when we talk about tight cattle supplies and beef prices, remember:

We didn't lose four million cows overnight.

And we're not getting four million cows back overnight either.

Sources: USDA NASS, USDA Economic Research Service and Oklahoma State University Extension.

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8606 County Road 229
Hico, TX
76457

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