Comment from a student:   Take a look at El Reno this week.  There is report of 6 #1 LM 558 pound steers that sold for $93.00  (Fleshy)  Just above them was the 557 pound steers at normal flesh that sell for $104.50  The fleshy calf cost $518.94 and the other cost $582.06   This market would have paid me $63.12 to take one pound off the fleshy calves.

This is where I totally get the “cost to keep.”  I have numerous trades where I take fat bawling bulls and turn them into thin yearling steers and loose weight doing it by putting them on cheap, mature grass.  Although I lost weight, I still made a profit.  It still cost me money to take off the weight in grass, time, skill, labor, freight and vet supplies.  But when I took them back to the sale at a lower weight than I bought them, they paid me for negative gain because I replaced them with a heavier, fat bawling bull. 

This may not make sense to anyone but me.  But there is real, spendable cash left over after each trade.

Keep smiling!  I know you mean it.