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LC · Live Cattle ·Bridge of Death · Question 09 of 11

The Feedyard Bill

The scene

You are a Knight of the Round Table — a Launcelot, a Galahad, a Sir Robin, perhaps King Arthur himself — and your quest, as you shall shortly declare, is to seek the Holy Grail. The road requires crossing the Gorge of Eternal Peril. The only way across is the Bridge of Death. There stands the Bridgekeeper, an old man with a staff, who will ask you three questions. Answer rightly, and he waves you past. Answer wrongly, and — into the gorge you will be thrown. Good luck.

At the bridge

“STOP! Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see.”

, Gorge of Eternal Peril.

1Question the first

What… is your name?

“

Answer

State your name.

2Question the second

What… is your quest?

“

Answer

I seek the Holy Grail of trading.

3Question the third

What… is the extra dollar cost, in millions, that US feedyards pay each year to replace the Mexican feeder cattle blocked by the 2025 Screwworm border closure?

In July 2025, a New World Screwworm outbreak in Mexico forced USDA-APHIS to close the US-Mexico cattle border. For fifty years, Mexico had been shipping roughly 1.3 million feeder cattle a year north, mostly to Texas and Oklahoma feedyards. All stranded now. Feeder Cattle futures rallied 15% within a week. The Bridgekeeper, holding a Texas feedyard invoice, asks how much more the sector pays a year to replace that supply.

Select one of the five answers below. Choose carefully, and accept your fate.