USDA ERS released the estimates for beef trade during the month of May on July 6th. The export data show a sharp increase as compared to the pandemic-disrupted levels from a year ago. Read more

There are several ways to manage price risk when marketing cattle. Some producers spread out sale dates, while others use forward contracts. Some prefer the use of futures and options, and sti… Read more

Participants from various segments of the Texas beef industry will be welcomed back to the Texas A&M University campus Aug. 9-11 for two sessions of the long-running Beef 706 educational program. Read more

The NCBA Live Cattle Marketing Working Group Regional Triggers Subgroup recently completed its performance evaluation of the 75% Plan for the second quarter of 2021. This is a requirement of t… Read more

Rising feed prices continue to be reflected in feeder cattle markets. Market prices for feed grains increase in order to ration feed demand to balance with a limited supply. High feed prices i… Read more

Slaughter steer prices in the Southern Plains have continued to remain stable to higher since about April, maintaining about $120 per cwt, with the exception of a few dollars higher in late Ju… Read more

On Wednesday (July 14), the U.S. District Court in South Carolina dismissed a challenge to the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) and granted a remand without vacatur, ensuring the rule r… Read more

U.S. Premium Beef (USPB) has been selected as the 2021 Don L. Good Impact Award recipient. The award, presented by the Livestock and Meat Industry Council, is named in honor of Good, who is a … Read more

Drought is creating forage shortages throughout North Dakota this year, which means producers will have to find alternative sources of feed for their livestock. Read more

In comments submitted to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), The North American Meat Institute (the Meat Institute) today said the State of California’s proposed rules fo… Read more

Today (July 14), the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) noted the introduction of misguided legislation entitled the Farm System Reform Act by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Congress… Read more

Last week our colleague David Anderson at Texas A&M wrote an article that provided an update on cow slaughter and cull cow markets. You can read his article here. This week, I thought I wo… Read more

Cattle trade between the U.S., Mexico and Canada is part of the increasingly integrated North American beef and cattle market. Cattle exports and imports among the three countries consists mos… Read more

U.S. beef and pork export values shattered previous records in May, according to data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). Beef exports were up 68% (133,44… Read more

USDA announced it will conduct a top-to-bottom review of the "Product of the USA" (POTUSA) label, which will inform a forthcoming rulemaking on the topic. This is a priority for NCBA, who rece… Read more

President Joe Biden signed a new Executive Order on Friday that could have broad impacts on agriculture and corporate business, covering competition in various industries. While the Executive … Read more

Public information and agricultural markets help facilitate efficient production markets, reduce information symmetries and inform policy and program formation, operation, and evaluation proce… Read more

The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer marks a second month of sharp declines, down 21 points to a reading of 137 in June. Producers were less optimistic about both current condi… Read more

The two-day event is designed to: Read more

USDA released the annual Acreage report last week. The report showed estimates of 92.7 million acres of corn in the U.S. This would be about 2 percent higher than in 2020 and is 1.6 million ac… Read more

Cow slaughter continues to run ahead of a year ago, led by beef cows. Even with larger slaughter, prices are ahead of last year. Over the last three months, beef cow slaughter totaled 818,000 … Read more

The recent increase in corn prices may be a benefit to grain farmers in Iowa but it has increased the cost of all feeds, feedlot cost of gain and negatively affected closeout profitability. Th… Read more

Wholesale beef prices typically increase in the spring, led by middle meat demand. Spring restaurant demand reflects several holidays, including Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day … Read more

More South Dakota acres are now in an extreme drought condition as lack of moisture and high temperatures continue to impact much of the state. According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor, ne… Read more

The efforts of TCFA members over the past several months have demonstrated cattle feeders’ commitment to increasing negotiated trade and price discovery by exceeding expectations outlined in t… Read more

The annual Update for Veterinarians program, organized and provided by Iowa Beef Center, features education and information focused on beef cattle production. Iowa State University Extension a… Read more

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln and three partner institutions have received nearly $1 million to expand the Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative. Read more

The Butcher Block Act, a bipartisan bill that would provide critical funding to expand capacity for small, regional and independent processing facilities was introduced last week in the U.S. H… Read more

Today (July 1), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a top-to-bottom review of the "Product of the USA" (POTUSA) label, which will inform a forthcoming rulemaking on this topic.… Read more

USDA released the June Cattle on Feed report on Friday June 25th. This monthly report estimates feedlot inventory in feedlots with one-time capacity over 1,000 head as of June 1st. Total feedl… Read more

The Colorado Supreme Court rejected a ballot measure that could have led to considerable changes in the state’s meat production and processing operations. The measure, Initiative 16, was set t… Read more

This week, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) secured the introduction of the Butcher Block Act in the U.S. House, a bipartisan bill that would provide critical funding to expand… Read more

Fed Cattle on feed inventories for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.7 million head on June 1, 2021, up only 0.2% over 2020, but almost 3% above the previous 5-year avera… Read more

This week, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) secured the introduction of the Butcher Block Act in the U.S. House. This bipartisan bill, introduced by Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) a… Read more

The latest USDA Cattle on Feed report showed a June 1 feedlot inventory of 11.699 million head, almost unchanged year over year from 11.671 million head in 2020; and fractionally lower than th… Read more

Ready or not, summer heat has arrived. Cattle have had little opportunity to become acclimated to summer conditions this year, so helping cattle cope is critical. The combination of hot temper… Read more

Today (June 23), Mr. Mark Gardiner, the owner-operator of Gardiner Angus Ranch and an NCBA member, testified before the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee on key market challenges that have lon… Read more

In response to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s request for comments on efforts to improve supply chains for the production of agricultural commodities and food products, The North … Read more

USDA will release their annual Acreage report on June 30th. This report will include an update of how many crop acres are planted this year. These reports can have a big impact on futures mark… Read more

The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry will hold a hearing today focused on examining markets, transparency and prices from cattle producer to consumer. Among those o… Read more

What a difference a year makes. Dairy products of cheese, butter, dry whey and nonfat dry milk are cycling through different price patterns than were seen during the pandemic. Cheese prices ha… Read more

The Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M ran the numbers. What it found was that two proposals in Congress to change current estate tax law would hit family farmers extremely hard. Read more

On June 11, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced USDA will propose three new regulations pertaining to the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA), one of which would substantively cha… Read more

Beef imports were up 1.5 percent year over year in April but are down 7.0 percent for the January to April period compared to last year. Year to date beef imports are down 4.0 percent compared… Read more

Today (June 16), the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) delivered progress on much-needed regulatory flexibility for livestock haulers. The addition of the backend 150 air-mile exemp… Read more

The JBS cyber-attack was another blow dealt to a cattle market that has been hit with challenge after challenge since last spring. James did a good job last week talking through the impacts on… Read more

International fertilizer markets are currently experiencing an unseasonal boost in prices and demand, with some prices hitting historical highs. The major question now for producers, traders, … Read more