….everywhere else.  The size of cattle herds continue to slide and that means beef prices at the supermarket will continue to climb.  Of course, they’ll go up even faster because of other costs. Thistle Hill has been able to hold the line on prices for several years now because we’re less vulnerable to the economics of commercial operations….and we don’t spray, pour and spread all those expensive chemicals on our land and animals.  While the most expensive input in most cattle operations is nutrition, for us it is butchering. We’ve made the point before that it costs us about $500 to process a steer; the big commercial operations get it…