The Preserving Family Farms Act of 2021 was introduced by U.S. Representatives Jimmy Panetta (CA-20) and Jackie Walorski (IN-2). NCBA has long supported efforts to reduce undue tax burden on f… Read more

Parts of the state slipped deeper into drought, and farmers who depend on irrigation water may find supplies limited. Read more

March weather is typically bi-polar with indications of spring mixed with lingering winter blasts. This year’s version included a big winter storm and heavy snow from the Colorado Rockies acro… Read more

The Death Tax Repeal Act of 2021 was introduced in March by U.S. Senator John Thune of South Dakota and U.S. Representatives Sanford Bishop (D-GA) and Jason Smith (R-MO). Both bills would allo… Read more

Last week USDA-NASS published their annual March Prospective Plantings report. The report provides initial insights on farmer’s planting intentions for the 2021 crop. There were a few bullish … Read more

USDA-NASS released two reports last week that added more fuel to red-hot grain and oilseed markets. The information about current and future corn markets has significant implications for cattl… Read more

A group of U.S. Senate Democrats have issued a proposal that would eliminate the step-up in basis for assets upon death, tax the unrealized capital gains at death and leave the estate tax in p… Read more

The last 20 months have been interesting. Who knew that the Holcomb, Kansas, beef plant fire would kick off a series of events that bring us where we are today? It’s almost like a television d… Read more

There has been a lot of discussion lately about President Joe Biden’s 30 x 30 directive, which is part of a larger executive action on climate change issued January 27. The directive seeks to … Read more

Twenty states filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the petition filed by the North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute) challenging the constitutionality of … Read more

A question was asked last week how increasing corn and soybean prices will impact feeder cattle prices this year and in future years. In the short-run, higher feed prices will put pressure on … Read more

Last year several pieces of legislation were introduced in both the US House of Representatives and US Congress whose principal aim was to increase the level of negotiated cash trade.[1] The c… Read more

U.S. beef exports to China have improved since the implementation of the U.S.-China Phase One Economic and Trade Agreement, according to Joel Haggard, USMEF senior vice president for the Asia … Read more

On Wednesday, March 24th, USDA announced updates to the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (or CFAP) and these updates directly affect cattle producers. For background, there were two rounds … Read more

USDA announced additional details on cattle assistance CFAP payments this week. Under the new initiative, USDA Pandemic Assistance for Producers, USDA will begin making additional CFAP payment… Read more

As April arrives, the current drought situation looms larger and potential impacts on cattle markets are increasing with each passing week. The latest Drought Monitor shows that 43.55 percent … Read more

Wednesday, March 31, 2021, 1:00 pm CT Read more

Nearly one year after the first reported cases of COVID-19 among meat and poultry workers, comprehensive protections have brought case rates to just 2.67 cases per day per 100,000 workers, acc… Read more

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced it would not implement its July 5, 2020, Federal Register Notice that would require the use of radio frequency identificatio… Read more

The consumer sentiment survey released by Michigan State University hit the highest level in 11 months. The press release cited relief measures and the U.S. vaccination program as the fundamen… Read more

USDA announced yesterday it will begin making Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) payments to cattle producers and farmers beginning next month. The agency also is establishing a new in… Read more

January milk prices fell across the U.S., declining $1 per cwt in the National All milk blend price. This marks the lowest price in seven months. May 2020 is the next lowest price of $13.60 pe… Read more

Today, March 24, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) issued a response to the introduction of legislation commonly referred to as “50/14,” led by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in … Read more

The USDA NASS Cattle on Feed report for January was released last Friday. My assessment of the report is that it is neutral. Placements, marketings, and on-feed numbers were all well within pr… Read more

Fed cattle markets have been unable to put together any sort of spring rally this year with cash markets trading in a narrow range for several weeks. The 5-market fed cattle price has averaged… Read more

The events over the last 18 months, including the fire at the beef plant in Holcomb and the COVID-19 pandemic, have put a spotlight on the need for more packing capacity in the beef industry. … Read more

Given the recent havoc endured by producers in the upper mid-west by the spring blizzard or even prior flooding we are aware that many producers have incurred losses. This has come in the form… Read more

Today, (March 17) the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) endorsed the Haulers of Agriculture and Livestock Safety (HAULS) Act of 2021. Introduced by Sen. Fischer (R-NE), Sen. Tester … Read more

It is hard to imagine that we have been living with COVID for more than a year now. It seems like yesterday, and forever ago, all at the same time. Last week marked one year since the World He… Read more

C-Lock Inc presents Feed Efficiency 101 with Read more

The dry conditions in the western U.S. continue to bring long-run uncertainty to cattle price prospects. Feed costs tied to grain prices have increased steadily over the past six months, large… Read more

The CME Group recently launched a Boxed Beef Index, which reflects the prices paid for Choice and Select beef using the daily cutout values. The index determines the five-business day weighted… Read more

The Death Tax Repeal Act of 2021 was introduced this week by U.S. Senator John Thune of South Dakota and U.S. Representatives Sanford Bishop (D-GA) and Jason Smith (R-MO). The National Cattlem… Read more

Texas cattle producers should expect far better market conditions in 2021 despite recent disruptions and losses, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts. Read more

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, along with 11 other state attorneys general, filed a lawsuit yesterday seeking to block the Biden administration’s attempt to implement parts of the so-c… Read more

Economic impacts of winter storm Uri are still being pulled together. It appears that cattle death losses in feedyards and dairies were light. It helped that the storm front did not drop a lot… Read more

The latest monthly trade data were released by USDA ERS/FAS this past Friday. The data released were for January 2021 and showed total beef and veal exports by carcass weight were up slightly … Read more

Why the US Government Provides Subsidized Livestock Insurance? Read more

Extreme cold weather took its toll on the livestock industry the week-ending February 20, 2021. Widespread power and gas outages, along with delays in trucking took weekly livestock slaughter … Read more

For cattle raisers financially burdened by February’s devastating winter storm and resulting power and water outages, help is on the way. Read more

The latest analysis of independent data reveals that COVID-19 infection rates among meat and poultry workers are more than five times lower than in the general U.S. population, 95% lower than … Read more

Sens. Deb Fischer from Nebraska and Ron Wyden of Oregon introduced the Cattle Market Transparency Act of 2021 this week, which would mandate how cattle must be marketed. KLA opposes this bill.… Read more

Several things have been written about the 2021 cattle inventory report, which continued to show reduction in the size of the US beef cattle herd. However, the revisions made to the 2019 and 2… Read more

Despite pandemic disruptions, consumer demand for beef at home and around the globe remained strong in 2020, a trend that will continue in 2021 and beyond, especially as foodservice operations… Read more

U.S. beef exports totaled 2,566.7 million pounds in 2020, down 2.3 percent from the previous year but still the third largest annual beef export total. The COVID-19 pandemic caused sharp disru… Read more

The value of the U.S. dollar weakened substantially since March 2020 and is expected to experience modest deflation in 2021. A weaker dollar generally makes U.S. agricultural products more com… Read more

According to USDA, a review of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP)–Additional Assistance by the Biden administration still is ongoing, but a decision is anticipated in the weeks ahe… Read more

The number of cattle processed on Saturdays is an interesting set of data. Saturday slaughter might be thought of as a catch-up day or as a shock absorber for holiday shortened weeks. It has l… Read more