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Apr. 27, 2012

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Beef Demand, The Economy & The Checkoff

Even with a sluggish economy, the recent furor over lean finely textured beef and this week’s BSE case, to name a few events, beef demand continues to exceed low expectations domestically, while exceeding its lofty expectations for exports. Those results continue to have a big day-to-day impact on cattle prices and likely help explain why producer support for the checkoff is at an all-time high....More
Apr. 23, 2012

Article

Public Pays The Price As More Cattle Ranchers Leave The Business

Try not to have a cow, but high beef prices are likely here to stay for a while. Smaller U.S. cattle herds and increasing feed and fuel costs have pushed some cattle producers out of the business the past several years. Last year’s extreme drought in the cattle cradle of the Southwest prompted many ranchers to liquidate herds they couldn’t afford to feed. Meanwhile, the export market for U.S. beef remains strong....More
Apr. 21, 2012

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Expansion Remains Cautious

Even with feed available, some producers are understandably reluctant to keep more heifers or buy more replacements at current prices....More
Apr. 20, 2012

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Make Room For A Bigger, Badder Foe 6

Activist groups like the Humane Society of the U.S. and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals garner the most attention and headlines in the battle against livestock productions. But a wider faction of groups dedicated to anti-modern, anti-capitalist, anti-technology agendas that don’t include high-yield agriculture in their vision are taking center stage and finding some success, as evidenced by the recent controversy over lean finely textured beef....More
Apr. 12, 2012

Article

Early Planting Could Mean More Ethanol Production

Corn planting is running well above normal across the country, fueling speculation that this year’s crop could be huge. USDA reported that this week that 7% of the nation’s corn crop is now planted – more than double normal for this time of year....More
Apr. 12, 2012

Article

Short-Term Energy And Summer Fuels Outlook

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) says that, during the April-through-September summer driving season this year, regular gasoline retail prices are forecast to average about $3.95/gal., peaking in May at a monthly average price of $4.01/gal. EIA expects regular gasoline retail prices to average $3.81/gal. in 2012 and $3.73/gal. in 2013, compared with $3.53/gal. in 2011. The June 2012 New York Harbor Reformulated Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending (RBOB) futures contract averaged $3.28/gal. for the five trading days ending April 5. Based on the market value of futures and options contracts, there is a 40% probability that its price at expiration will exceed $3.35/gal., consistent with a monthly average regular-grade gasoline retail price exceeding $4.00/gal. in June....More
Apr. 5, 2012

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Finding Middle Ground In A Regulatory World

Concerns about food safety, animal welfare, sustainability and the environment are here to stay. And if you thought the last 20 years produced a regulatory world fraught with land mines, the next 20 years will only see the velocity of the regulatory environment increase. Can cattlemen survive?...More
Apr. 5, 2012

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Feeding 9 Billion Demands Industry Changes

While just about everyone understands that by 2050—in just 38 years—the world population will burgeon to 9 billion people, what's yet unknown is the effect that will have on the structure of ag markets and ag-related companies, from multi-national corporations all the way to the ranch gate....More
Apr. 5, 2012

Article

Ag Students Are Changing; That’s Good For Ag

Roughly half the students in Colorado State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences don’t come from a background in production agriculture. Not only is that good, but it’s an important group of potential students to recruit and bring into the agricultural sciences, says the college’s dean....More
Apr. 5, 2012

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Priorities Are Important In All Endeavors

I’ll never forget the conversation I had with a producer who got caught up in the rhetoric that it was the marketplace that was the problem. He was smart and, after lots of study, figured out the problem was beef demand and his own marketing. He thus began to focus on the things he could affect, and that would have real impact. Ironically, he’s now more active than ever, but he’s focusing on those things that will make a real difference....More
Apr. 3, 2012

Article

Beef Product Maker Gave $500,000 To Republicans Over Decade 2

The maker of lean beef trimmings — on whose behalf Gov. Terry Branstad crusaded last week — donated more than $500,000 to Iowa Republican candidates over the past decade and was the top agricultural contributor to the governor’s latest re-election bid, records show....More
Apr. 2, 2012

Article

USDA Seeks Applications To Spur Job Creation, Economic Growth In Rural Areas

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that USDA is seeking applications for grants to help rural businesses create jobs and spur economic development....More
Mar. 30, 2012

Article

Emerging Economies & The U.S. Livestock Industry

Agriculture has a math problem. In simple terms, the factors are 38 plus 9 billion. But while just about everyone understands that by 2050 – in just 38 years – the world population will burgeon to 9 billion people, what’s yet unknown is the effect that will have on the structure of ag markets and ag-related companies, from multi-national corporations all the way to the ranch gate....More
Mar. 30, 2012

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Opinion: Pink Slime Issue Exposes Our Industry Traitors 17

Lean, finely textured beef is a safe, USDA-approved product and process that's been used for 20 years and provides an additional 10-12 lbs. of lean protein from each beef animal, thus improving the industry’s efficiency and making high-quality protein more affordable to consumers. But when the sensational media coverage of “pink slime” hit the nation’s news appetite last week, we didn’t expect that livestock groups like the Organization for Competitive Markets would join anti-meat and anti-big agriculture groups in demonizing the safe product....More
Mar. 28, 2012

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Environment For Cowherd Expansion Is Very Favorable

Economic theory suggests that when a major input cost goes up, the industry utilizing that input reduces its production. That’s exactly what happened to the beef industry in the biofuels era – high corn prices led to a lower national beef cowherd....More
Mar. 27, 2012

Article

Positives, Challenges Recognized At Beef Industry Safety Summit

It was at the same time a celebration of a decade of beef safety progress and a solemn recognition of the long road ahead. When about 230 food safety experts gathered in Tampa, Fla., for the 10th anniversary of the Beef Industry Safety Summit in early March, they heard about the beef industry’s success in improving beef safety and increasing consumer confidence in the product. But they also acknowledged more can be done to address pathogen issues....More
Mar. 16, 2012

Article

CME Group: Farm Attrition Not As Big As Feared

USDA’s annual estimates of the number of livestock operations in the U.S. showed surprisingly little damage to beef cow operations numbers in 2011.We say “surprisingly little” because we had expected larger reductions due to the drought in Southwestern states last year....More
Mar. 15, 2012

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Study Provides Insight Into Small Cow-Calf Operations

Small-scale U.S. Livestock Operations 2011represents the results of the first national survey of the health, marketing, management and biosecurity practices of livestock operations with annual sales of ag products from $10,000 to $499,999. See the report here....More
Mar. 14, 2012

Article

NCBA Pushes For Beef Checkoff Reform

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) today, March 14, 2012, submitted comments on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service proposed rule pertaining to the Beef Checkoff Program. The proposed rule would expand contracting authority by eliminating the requirement that only allows organizations active and ongoing since 1985 to contract with the checkoff....More
Mar. 12, 2012

Article

Beef And Water: The Efficiency Equation 2

In an ad last week in the Wall Street Journal, Fidelity Investments made the claim that “It takes 635 gals. of water to make one hamburger.” The source of their claim is Global Water Partnership....More
Mar. 10, 2012

Article

Cattle Equilibrium Near?

Projections for historically high cow-calf returns for the next couple of years may be enough to entice herd expansion, but only modestly, if the latest 10-year baseline from the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri (FAPRI-MU) is close to correct....More
Mar. 9, 2012

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A Final Shot In The Checkoff Battle 2

Most everyone is excited that, as an industry, we seem to have put the checkoff debate behind us and are moving forward. I think most everyone is also in agreement that the divergence was always about political agendas and that there are still some who want to keep the debate alive....More
Mar. 9, 2012

Article

USDA Releases “Small-scale U.S. Livestock Operations, 2011” 1

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has released a report from its “Small-scale U.S. Livestock Operations, 2011” study. The study represents the first national survey of the health, marketing, management, and biosecurity practices of livestock operations with annual sales of agricultural products from $10,000 to $499,999. For details on the cow-calf segment of the study, click here. ...More
Mar. 9, 2012

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USDA Proposes Expansion Of Contracting Authority For Beef Checkoff Program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service is proposing to expand the contracting authority for the Beef Promotion and Research Program....More
Mar. 8, 2012

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Why All The Talk About Expansion? 2

A cattleman who I rely on for sage advice said something to me this week that really got me to thinking. He asked why everyone is encouraging expansion so loudly. His point was that his operation looked like it might be more profitable than any time in the past; so why does everyone seem so concerned about encouraging expansion?...More

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