Rancher

Heavy Steers and Lean Cows: Drivers of the 2026 Ground Beef Market

Tue, 12 May 2026 15:48:31 GMT

In a market defined by record-breaking prices, an unlikely partnership is driving the value of ground beef: 980-lb. carcasses and the lean cull cows needed to balance them out. While fed cattle weights have reached historic highs, they’ve created a massive surplus of fat trim that requires an equally historic amount of lean blending beef to meet consumer demand. This blending math — combined with tight supplies and a shift in culling patterns — is pushing cull cow prices to new heights.

David Anderson, Texas A&M professor and Extension specialist for livestock and food product marketing, in a recent Southern Ag Today article , summarizes that cull cow prices keep climbing.

“While calf and fed cattle prices have continued to set new record highs in the cash and futures market, cull cow prices have continued their slow ascent to new highs as lean beef prices keep pulling cow prices higher,” Anderson explains. “Southern Plains cull cow auction prices increased to almost $180 per cwt in late April, up about $15 per cwt since January. The seasonal price increase has been smaller than normal this year. Cutter-quality cows have increased about $30 per cwt., almost 25%, since the beginning of the year.”

(USDA-AMS, Livestock Marketing Information Center)

The Blending Effect: Why 980-lb. Carcasses Need Lean Cows

Blending math is the process of mixing high-fat trim from fed cattle with 90% lean beef from cull cows to meet consumer demand for specific ground beef ratios. Anderson stresses one overlooked boost to lean beef prices has been record-large fed cattle dressed weights. Average federally inspected fed steer dressed weights have remained more than 980 lb. per carcass since late 2025.

“Larger carcasses produce additional fat that requires more lean beef for blending to boost its value as ground beef rather than just tallow entering the fats and oils market,” he says.

Glynn Tonsor, Kansas State University professor of agricultural economics, says when the beef industry harvests animals bigger than ever, it is also getting more 50% lean and 50% fat trimmings per animal than ever before. He points out most consumers don’t directly consume 50/50, thus it is an input into ground beef production, and it only works if there is more lean to blend with it.

If there is not enough U.S.-produced lean to blend, the next option is to import lean.

Dairy Culling Shifts and the April Pullback

After exceeding slaughter of a year ago through the first 10 weeks of 2026, dairy cow culling pulled back to year-ago levels during April.

“Dairy cow culling typically peaks in January and February each year, then declines into midyear,” Anderson says. “The decline in dairy cow slaughter has pulled down total cow culling as weekly beef cow slaughter has held at steady but low levels. For the year, total dairy cow slaughter is reported up 6% compared to last year while total cow slaughter (beef and dairy) is down 5%.”

(USDA-AMS and USDA-NASS, Livestock Marketing Information Center)

Beef and dairy cow slaughter is reported weekly by region of the U.S. In recent weeks, Anderson says reported regional cow slaughter data has declined due to confidentiality rules that prevent publication if there are too few buyers to prevent revealing any one operation’s actions.

(USDA-AMS and USDA-NASS, Livestock Marketing Information Center)

“The lack of reporting due to confidentiality concerns has been a problem in fed cattle reporting for many years,” Anderson says. “On the positive side, the weekly national cow slaughter data includes all of the regions, including those that could not be reported regionally.”

2026 projected cow culling is based on year-to-date beef cow slaughter.

(Oklahoma State University)

Retention vs. Liquidation: The Impact of Record Calf Values

Anderson says record-high calf prices are likely keeping cows on the ranch or dairy that otherwise would have been culled to get one more calf out of them. As those calves are born and move to weaning, there may be an increase in culling as those cows come to market.

“Cull prices tend to peak midyear, so there is room for cow prices to continue to increase over the next couple of months,” Anderson says. “Beyond just the seasonal pattern arguing for higher prices, cow culling should continue to be lower than last year, further supporting prices. Beef cow slaughter is expected to remain well below a year ago. Better milk prices should restrain dairy cow culling even though the herd remains large.”

Analyst Predicts Cull Cow Prices Will Remain Elevated

Adding to the discussion on cull cow marketing strategies, Don Close, Terrain chief beef analyst, explains, “Growing up in sale barns we always used to say the best day of the year to sell a used cow is the first day of baseball season. There is some grounding in that date. As soon as grass greens, after a producer has kept her and fed hay all winter, he isn’t going to sell her if he has grass, especially if he thinks she is bred. Once she has calved and grass is available, the producer isn’t inclined to do much unless it is a drought or injury issue. At this point they will wait until fall weaning and cow-sorting time.”

He also points out another driving factor for cull cow prices is the strength of ground beef prices supported with the beginning of the grilling season — prepared-meat manufacturers’ demand is at its peak. Hot dog and lunch meat sales go up as children are out of school and with ballpark hot dog consumption.

(USDA-AMS, Livestock Marketing Information Center)

Your Next Reads:

U.S. Cattle Inventory Hits 75-Year Low at 86.2 Million Head

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 21:08:07 GMT

As of Jan. 1, 2026, the U.S. beef cattle herd stands at 86.2 million head, continuing a downward trend. Despite a year of strong prices, USDA’s annual Cattle Inventory Report released Friday shows the U.S. cattle inventory shrank another 0.35% and now sits at its smallest size in 75 years.

“I would say the story continues,” summarizes Derrell Peel, extension livestock marketing specialist from Oklahoma State University. “I mean, it really doesn’t change the pattern that we’ve been in for the last three years now.”

Quick Report Stats:

Total Cattle and Calves Inventory: 86.2 million head (Down 0.35%)
Beef Cow Herd: 27.6 million head (Down 1%)
2025 Calf Crop: 32.9 million head (Smallest since 1941)
Beef Replacement Heifers: 4.71 million head (Up 1%)

Patrick Linnell, CattleFax director of market research, calls the report bullish.

“I think the big picture message of this report is expansion, while there was some signs of it within this report, by and large expansion remains elusive at this point,” he says.

What Are the Big Takeaways from the USDA Report?

According to Peel, the data highlights two critical areas:

1. Shrinking Cow Herd: The beef cow inventory fell 1% to 27.6 million head.
“The industry technically got a little smaller in 2025,” Peel says.

Linnell adds, “As you looked at just how tight beef cow slaughter was this past year, us and other groups had expected we would actually see an increase in the beef cow herd. Small, but an increase nonetheless. However, that’s not what this report showed.”

2. Heifer Retention Signs: Beef replacement heifers rose 1% to 4.71 million.
“There was a slight uptick in beef replacement heifers, not enough to amount to any growth in 2026, or probably even in 2027, but maybe it’s the beginnings [of a rebuild].”

John Nalivka, Sterling Marketing Inc. president, says the report indicates while replacement heifers was up 1% and those expected to calve were also up 1% from 2024 or 17% of the beef cow herd.

“From 2015 to 2018 when producers began aggressively building herds, the average number of heifers that were identified as replacements on the Jan. 1 inventory was 6.2 million or an average heifer retention rate of 21%,” he explains.

Nalivka says heifer slaughter during 2025, at 9.5 million, was down 7% from the prior year but still represented 52% of the heifers weighing more than 500 lb. on Jan. 1, 2025. In 2024, the industry slaughtered 56% of the January 1 heifers weighing more than 500 lb.

“When the industry was retaining heifers to build herds, the percentage of heifers weighing over 500 lb. that were slaughtered ranged from 39% to 49%,” he adds.

Why is the 2025 Calf Crop Significant?

The calf crop estimate was reduced to 32.9 million head — a 2% drop from 2024. This marks the smallest U.S. calf crop since 1941. This scarcity will be the primary driver for market dynamics in the coming years.

The calf crop in 1941 was approximately 31.8 million head. While the industry saw a significant liquidation in 2014, the calf crop that year only dropped to roughly 33.5 million. This means the current contraction has pushed production levels back more than 80 years.

Outlook: What Will Cattle and Beef Prices Do in 2026?

Peel predicts the small calf crop and tightening feeder supplies will push prices even higher.

“We’ve got record-high prices, and we’re going to see them push even higher for cattle and beef,” Peel says.

He reminds producers it’s important to keep in mind that it’s not just about supply.

“Demand has also continued to be remarkably good for beef as prices have gone up,” he says. “Beef prices have increased relative to pork and poultry. There are alternative proteins that consumers could be turning to, and they’re not. So that’s a very positive sign from a beef industry standpoint.”

The “Historically Slow” Rebuild

Unlike the rapid expansion seen 10 years ago, Peel expects this cycle to be much slower. Producers are cautious, remembering how quickly record prices vanished in the past.

“I do think we’re probably beginning, but it’s certainly not a concerted effort,” Peel says. “There’s not a strong, broad-based initiative in the industry. It will probably grow, but I think it’s going to continue to grow pretty slowly.”

He explains the industry has outlasted the previous cycle highs by two-plus years.

“I think producers are coming around to the idea that this is a more sustained story,” Peel says.

What is the Take-Home Message for Producers?

The market is signaling a desperate need for a rebuild.

“The incentive is there, the value of forage is there,” he says. “If you’ve got forage you can use to raise calves, the market wants you to do that. And if you aren’t fully stocked, then it’s encouraging you to think about doing that. I think the main message for producers is to take advantage of this market.”

He also encourages producers to maintain the productivity of their herds.

“We have cut cow culling so far in the last two to three years that some of these cows are going to have to be culled going forward,” he explains. “So, we got to have a few more replacement heifers just to maintain the productivity of the herd. Take care of that first and then if you need to restock. I understand the tradeoff between selling them now for what is a record price versus investing in the future, but you know, sooner or later, we have to make that investment and look a little bit farther down the road.”

Other January cattle report highlights include:

Of the 86.2 million head inventory of all cattle and calves, cows and heifers that have calved totaled 37.2 million.
The number of milk cows in the U.S. increased 2% to 9.57 million.
The number of cattle on feed was down 3% to 13.8 million.

Nalivka adds, “Only time will tell as the year progresses to determine if USDA’s Cattle Inventory is on track. One cross-check will be cattle slaughter which is an actual number reported to USDA by the packers. The inventory is generated from an annual survey number. I understand that USDA aligns annual surveys with the five-year Agricultural Census. To say the least, I have greater confidence in numbers reported to USDA that can cross-check the validity of the survey.”

He does not expect the Cattle Inventory Report to have an impact on cattle numbers or the market going forward through 2026 and into 2027, particularly with a 2% smaller 2025 calf crop.

“Numbers will continue to tighten and when coupled with continued strong demand for beef will support the market at levels at and likely above the market peak seen during third quarter 2025,” he summarizes.

Glynn Tonsor, Kansas State University ag economist, posted on LinkedIn his analysis of the report. He shares state-level beef cow inventory estimates (of seven states with more than 1 million head) Kansas’ 7% decline stands out while Missouri, Montana, Nebraska and Texas are estimated to be down 1-3% and Oklahoma and South Dakota are flat. Only Texas has a sizeable increase in estimated replacement heifers.

He shares two broader points:

While it certainly is valuable to count the number of beef cows, understand status of herd expansion, and other factors that is far from a complete story on industry supply dynamics. In short, the industry has implemented a number of efficiency gains resulting in the net effect of more edible beef production per cow in the industry.
It has become way too common to focus on supply and overlook demand dynamics. In fact, recent work with Brian Coffey documents how recent beef price patterns have been impacted more by strong consumer beef demand than any supply-side adjustments .

Analyzing the inventory numbers Peel summarizes, “It’s just amazing to me that we continue down this path. We’ve kept extending the timeline. You know, technically, with the beef cow herd and the way we look at cattle cycles, I thought 2025 would turn out to be officially the low. Well, now we’re even smaller in 2026, so we will have to wait until next year’s number to see whether this is the low. We just keep pushing this timeline out that provides even more opportunities for producers to take advantage of this market.”

Bi-annual Cattle report would be called lightly positive. 1) There was no sign of any type of January 2015 expansion (retained beef heifers +9.5%). 2) Overall, numbers came in just below the four analyst expectation. pic.twitter.com/lvNaDBusz3
— Rich Nelson (@RichNelsonMkts) January 30, 2026

To obtain an accurate measurement of the current state of the U.S. cattle industry, NASS surveyed approximately 35,000 operators across the nation during the first half of January. Surveyed producers were asked to report their cattle inventories as of Jan. 1, 2026, and calf crop for the entire year of 2025 by internet, mail, telephone or in-person interview.

Your Next Reads:
Tightest Cattle Supply Predicted in The Next 60 to 90 Days
CattleFax Predicts Profitability Despite Increased Uncertainty

The Mental Pressure of Being an Off-The-Farm Spouse

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 20:31:34 GMT

Being an off-the-farm spouse can sometimes feel like you’re living life in the in-between. You’re not fully involved on the operation, but you’re not removed from it, either.

Most of the time, you’re hearing about the good days and the bad ones secondhand, whether it’s a conversation at the dinner table or a late-night recap of the day as you crawl into bed. Through blurry details, you piece together what happened, how the day went and how your spouse is really feeling. You celebrate the wins, worry through the challenges and carry the stress right along with them, even though you weren’t there to see it firsthand.

That in-between space can be hard to explain to anyone outside the farm, but it’s a feeling many off-the-farm spouses can relate to.

Balance the Comfort and the Pressure of Stability

It’s no secret that an off-the-farm job can come with real advantages.

A steady paycheck
Health insurance
A retirement plan

Knowing when that next check will hit the bank account and having reliable health coverage feels like a safety net when life on the farm is anything but predictable. And for a lot of farm and ranch families, this reliability helps make everything else work. But with stability can also come added pressure. A pressure to provide, to stay employed and to keep everything moving forward.

More often than not, the off-the-farm paycheck carries the heavier load of the responsibility, especially when margins are tight. Per USDA data, in 2023, 96% of farm households earned money from off-farm sources, making up 77% of household income. And USDA states most households, regardless of farm size, work off the farm because it pays better than farm work, and access to health care benefits is often part of that decision.

For off-the-farm spouses working to help keep the farm afloat, this heavy load can take a mental toll.

They’re juggling budgets, weighing the “what-ifs,” and sometimes lying awake at night running the numbers in their heads — thinking through what could go wrong and how to keep the farm and family going. It’s a constant, behind-the-scenes effort to make sure everything keeps running smoothly.

Open the Lines of Communication

When that stress starts to build, one of the most helpful tools families have is simply talking about it. According to the University of Wisconsin’s Farm Management Program, farm couples and families who manage stress well tend to communicate openly, working together to plan ahead and tackle problems as a team. Having honest conversations and sharing information can help bring back a sense of control when finances feel uncertain.

That can be easier said than done. When financial pressure builds, many people try to carry it quietly — thinking they are protecting their family by keeping worries to themselves. But holding it all in can actually create more tension at home. Opening up does not mean sharing every detail or worst case scenario. It can be as simple as letting trusted family members or friends know what you are carrying and being honest about changes that may need to happen at home.

Share the Load

While there’s no perfect way to handle the stress that comes with being an off‑the‑farm spouse, you learn how to carry it in a way that works for your family. Sometimes it means adjusting plans, sometimes it means talking things out and sometimes it just means taking a deep breath and reminding yourself you’re doing the best you can.

Finding small ways to share the load can really help, whether that means talking things out, relying on people you trust or giving yourself a moment to breathe when you need it.

Producers and Veterinarians Are Taking Back Agriculture’s Story Online

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 21:31:46 GMT

“In agriculture, if we don’t tell our story, someone else will, and they’re not telling it right,” says sixth-generation rancher Tucker Brown .

Most Americans have never set foot on a cattle operation, yet millions scroll past videos every day telling them how livestock are raised, what antibiotics do and whether beef belongs on their plate. Increasingly, that information isn’t coming from veterinarians or producers. It’s coming from influencers, activists and algorithm-fueled accounts that often get the facts wrong.

At the same time, consumer curiosity about animal welfare and food safety has never been higher. Nearly 70% of U.S. consumers say animal welfare is very important to their purchasing decisions. However, there exists a gap between what people think happens in cattle health and what is actually occurring on farms.

Meet the Experts: Real-Life Ranchers and Vets on Instagram

Ranchers Brown and Emma Coffman recently sat down at a Stockmanship and Stewardship event to discuss the importance of online advocacy, building trust and making an impact through educational content on social media.

Brown is a rancher at R.A. Brown ranch in Throckmorton, Texas. With nearly 200,000 followers on Instagram , he has been using his platform to educate, entertain and build trust with consumers for over seven years. Although admittedly, Brown’s purpose for posting shifted from his original intent.

“At first, it was just to help me sell more registered bulls,” he says. “But what ended up happening was there were more consumers watching my stuff than bull customers, and so, this trust was being built between consumers and myself and other ranchers.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tucker Brown (@tuckerbrownrab)

Coffman, the founder and owner of Double E Ranch Advocacy , is a first-generation agriculturalist. Her passion for public agricultural education began when she discovered just how much information was never communicated to consumers.

“When I started getting an interest in agriculture through 4-H and FFA, I had a lot of questions,” she says. “I realized there was a lot of what I thought was very simple, basic one-on-one information about how our food is grown and the labeling behind it that we weren’t talking about to consumers.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Double E Ranch (@double_e_ranch_)

Both Brown and Coffman agree the people with mud on their boots and dirt on their hands from the farm should be the ones to answer consumer questions where their food comes from and how it’s grown.

Bovine veterinarian Dr. Erika Nagorske, who has amassed almost 17,000 followers on Instagram , takes a highly educational approach. She’ll often post about unique cases asking vet students for their diagnosis, following up with the answer a couple weeks later.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dr. Erika Nagorske (@docnagorske)

“The reason why I keep doing it is the educational piece, especially for veterinary students. I love teaching vet students and I really like teaching producers who want the extra information,” Nagorske says. “Nobody wins if the vet doesn’t explain what they’re doing and what they’re thinking. It’s a teaching platform.”

Brown, Coffman and Nagorske view what they do as a way to increase public understanding of where their food comes from and the role of veterinarians in agriculture.

“In the ag space, it’s so hard. I think we always complain that nobody understands us,” Nagorske says. “I grew up in a city, fell in love with the industry, and I want to share it. If we don’t share it, we can’t complain that people don’t know.”

Getting Started: 4 Tips for Effective Ag Social Media

Are you thinking about sharing on social media? Coffman and Brown had the following recommendations:

Remember the why: Your goal should be in the front of your mind
Don’t worry about being polished: Being relatable is more important
Use your personality: People often connect with the human before the information
Keep it simple: Answer one question per post

“It’s really about trying to take complex subjects, bring it down to a baseline level and then build your advocacy off of that,” Coffman says. “And don’t be afraid to repeat yourself.”

In cattle production, there are a number of commonly asked questions. Coffman advises going back to these topics with varying approaches to get the message across. Further, there are a lot of everyday on-farm activities that consumers have never seen before. Above all, conveying the information in a way the audience will understand is most important.

Winning Trust: How to Handle Negative Comments Online

As with all social media, there is the potential for negative interactions. How you handle them can be very impactful.

“I always suggest that when you get a negative comment on what you’re sharing … to respond with facts rather than emotion,” Brown says. “It helps you look better, helps you be more relatable and more trustworthy to the 90% of watchers that will be silent.”

The goal isn’t to “win,” but to build trust, he says.

In the end, the public only sees what we share. Misinformation thrives in silence, not in the presence of experts. When agriculture professionals speak openly, transparently and compassionately on social media, the industry benefits.

“When we tell the truth, ranching wins,” Brown says. “That’s all you have to do. You don’t have to come up with a story. All you have to do is tell the truth.”

For these professionals, transparency means allowing the public to see the core values of their work, a view Nagorske summarizes by focusing on veterinarians’ dedication.

“I want them to take away the deep rooted passion that veterinarians have for animals. Even if it’s livestock. Even if the end goal is to consume them,” Nagorske says.

Normal La Niña Pattern to Return By Thanksgiving

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 16:25:32 GMT

What are the primary weather events being watched by the leading ag meteorologists right now? Here’s a round-up.

A Bit of an Oddball La Niña

“We need to be really careful about making big assumptions about this La Niña. It is not a classic La Niña,” says Drew Lerner, World Weather, Inc. He points to two large rain events in the southern U.S. Plains this past week.

USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey adds southern California has also received a lot of precipitation. He says it’s the timing and strength of the La Niña bringing a different pattern than could be expected.

“The big thing we’re watching is the fact that we’re in a La Niña during the month of September for the fifth time in six years,” Rippey says. “And with that, November’s been a little bit strange so far. We haven’t fully kicked into what you would expect to see with a La Niña regime.”

More Precipitation on Its Way

“We also have a lot of warm ocean water between Hawaii and California, so watch for more heavy rain, like we saw this week coming into California a little later in the winter,” Lerner says.

Rippey says people across the Great Plains can expect more storms through this week.

“Given the fact that we are heading into a La Niña winter, we need the moisture across the southern Plains now,” Rippey says. “It looks like more of a La Niña regime setting in for the latter part of November and certainly by Thanksgiving. By that I mean stormier, colder weather across the north, and some of that warm and dry weather should become more established across the South. It’ll be a while until we get there.”

The week of Thanksgiving is showing some increased chance for winter storms and perhaps travel-impactful weather events.

Droughty Conditions Bring Concerns

Dry weather persists in key grazing areas, which Matt Makens from Makens Weather says is his biggest concern for the rest of this year and early into 2026.

Lerner adds: “The northern Plains and neighboring areas of Canada’s prairies won’t see much precipitation. There’s still a big, bad drought up there, and they’re hoping for better moisture. But in the meantime, our wheat that’s in the soft wheat that’s in the lower Midwest bowl will get a nice drink of water.”

Pacific Storm Season Brought More Action Than the Atlantic

Reflecting on the ongoing hurricane season, Rippey says while it was indicated we could have an active season, there have been only 13 named storms and only five hurricanes.

Without any major storms making landfall in the U.S., Rippey points to a few factors:

“We had the African feeder storms, the thunderstorms that come off the African coast, came off a little further north than they normally would. And that put some of those thunderstorm complexes into a more hostile environment as they developed or tried to develop,” he says.
“We had a protective jet stream across the eastern United States, a little dip along the East Coast of the United States that really forced any developing storms to recurve before they ever reach the United States,” he says.

“A lot of that moisture ended up in the western United States eventually, remnant tropical moisture, and that certainly has helped to chip away at the drought across the western United States, courtesy of the active eastern Pacific season with 18 overall named storms,” Rippey adds.

Planting Season Outlook

While planting season is about five months away for many, the weather trends are tipping the scales to a slow start.

“I still have some confidence in saying that some of the northern areas of the country — northern plains, upper Midwest — could face a spring with a delayed warm-up,” Rippey says. “We could see some snowy cold conditions lingering into the early to mid-spring across some of those northern production areas. Typically coming out of La Niña, we do see a later planting season in the north, and we will have to watch drought in the south.”

La Niña Will Flip to El Niño

As for what’s ahead in the new year, Maken says while we might start with a La Niña, toward the end of the year, we’ll flip into an El Niño.

“And when you do this flip, it depends on how quickly it flips, because it can mean a lot of rainfall for a lot of folks,” he says. “And not that La Niña and El Niño are the end-all, be-alls, but they’re the major players in the room. Some really like hearing El Niño. Others really do not like the person saying that.”

Cull Cows Defy Seasonality

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 14:04:31 GMT

All the talk of relaxing tariffs on imported beef, knowing that the majority of our beef imports are lean beef trimmings to go into ground beef competing with cull cow beef, suggested it might be time to take a quick look at the cull cow market.

Most will remember that cull cow prices tend to hit their seasonal lows in the rall. The most important reason for the price decline is that more cows are culled from the herd in the fall.

For beef cattle, the largest proportion of cows are culled in the fall following calf weaning. On the dairy side, cow culling increases from summertime lows. The increase in supplies of cows for sale results in lower prices. Another contributor to lower prices is the end of grilling season, with consumers shifting over to more fall and winter consumption patterns.

(USDA-AMS Livestock Marketing Information Center)

So far this fall, the cull cow market has defied normal seasonality. Southern Plains cull cow auction prices hit about $165 per cwt. back in June and have remained there since then. A couple weeks of declines were followed by rebounds back to about $165 per cwt. National average cutter quality cows have declined recently, slipping about $9 per cwt. to $126.

(USDA-AMS Livestock Marketing Information Center)

While the live cow market has not declined much, the same cannot be said for the cow beef market. The boxed cow beef cutout climbed to $340 per cwt. but has declined to $317 over the last two months. Wholesale 90% lean beef has declined from $436 to $404 per cwt. over the same period. Both the boxed beef cutout and wholesale 90% lean have followed the normal season pattern, declining into the fall.

(USDA-AMS, USDA-NASS Livestock Marketing Information Center)

We are likely to see some increased culling from the dairy side of the beef industry in the coming months. USDA’s latest milk production report indicated the nation’s dairy cow herd at 9.85 million head. That is the largest herd since at least 1993.

Milk production in September was 4% larger than the year before. Milk prices are beginning to decline sharply with increased production. There is no doubt that the increased returns from using beef bull instead of dairy breed semen to produce beef-on-dairy calves is boosting profits and aiding in the dairy herd expansion.

Beef cow culling is likely to remain low due to the historically small cow herd and incentives to expand. More dairy cow culling and less beef cow culling will continue to leave cull cow prices high.

Your Next Read: Beef Industry Chaos: Tight Supplies, Strong Consumer Demand and Political Interference

$4 Feeder Cattle: Dream or Reality?

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 14:50:41 GMT

As October draws to a close, U.S. officials are reportedly going to meet with Mexican counterparts this week to talk about reopening the border . The possibility of trade resuming, coupled with President Donald Trump’s comments on lowering beef prices and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ announcement to “fortify the beef industry,” sent the cattle market spiraling in recent days.

Despite the downturn, the fundamentals haven’t changed: reduced supply and strong consumer demand are fueling record-high market prices.

“The reduction in available supply and robust beef demand to-date has clearly provided price support,” says Glynn Tonsor, Kansas State University professor of agricultural economics. “Tied to that is the biggest risk in my opinion — beef demand. Anything that erodes beef demand strength, most likely macroeconomic and consumer income in nature in my opinion, will put downward pressure on cattle of all weight classes.”

Tonsor says he never gave $4 much thought until the past couple of years.

“If we adjust for inflation or consider production costs, $4 feeders aren’t what they used to be. It takes $4-plus feeders to generate the net returns we used to get from lower prices,” he explains. “These are profitable prices for ranchers — and it’s about time.”

Tonsor predicts feeder cattle prices to continue under current conditions but does not predict increased profitability due to increasing operating costs.

“The 2025 bull market has been exceptional by every measure,” summarizes Lance Zimmerman, RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness senior beef industry analyst. “500-lb. steer prices are now more than 50% higher than last year, and 800-lb. steer prices are nearly there at just under a 50% price increase year-over-year.”

As a frame of reference, the CME feeder cattle cash index, which captures the average 700 lb. to 899 lb. steer price, averaged $367.08/cwt. the week of Oct. 20. This fall, livestock auction markets across the country have reported lightweight feeder cattle surpassing the $4 mark.

“I think it is entirely possible for feeder cattle to get to $4,” says Don Close, Terrain Ag senior animal protein analyst. “However, I think it will be late summer and fall 2026.”

According to Close, there are three critical components for feeder prices today:
1. Mexican border reopening
2. What disruptions could come to the beef-on-dairy supply
3. Feed prices

“Of that list, Mexico border closure is the real wild card,” he explains. “I don’t see a measurable disruption to beef-on-dairy or feed costs in the near term.”

When Will We Hit the High?

Oklahoma State University’s Derrell Peel, Extension livestock marketing specialist, explains the highest average prices are likely a year or more after heifer retention begins.

“We don’t have any confirmation heifer retention has started to any significant level in 2025,” Peel says. “We have already pushed off any signs of herd rebuilding by one to two years longer than I earlier expected, and we are looking at extending it another year if heifer retention does not start in the fourth quarter. Because the response has been much slower this time than previous cattle cycles, prices have certainly gone higher than I would have expected a year or two ago — though I did expect record-high prices.”

Peel predicts the next expansion phase will be different than the 2014-19 expansion cycle.

“The 2014-19 herd expansion was historically rapid, this current one is historically slow,” he says. “It is a combination of a lengthy list of factors that combine to make this a slow response, and it looks like it will remain a slow, lengthy process.”

Close shares his thoughts on the complexities of the current cycle:

Drought and economic stress. “As an industry, we didn’t fully recognize the severity of the drought as well as the degree of economic stress to the sector,” he says. “The fallout of the 2014 to 2015 price drop is still fresh on producers’ minds, so they have been using the prices of the past three years to get balance sheets in order, pay down debt and now are starting to make capital improvements.”
Producer age. “The average age of cow owners is a factor, so many have used current prices to liquidate and retire,” he says.
Female costs. “Replacement female prices that range from $3,000 to $5,000 restricts and scares some away,” he says. “That is only compounded with the addition of current interest rates.”
Cow size. The escalation in average cow size limits how many cows can run on a given unit of pasture.“
Land. “You hear producers make comments on the difficulty to find additional pasture in order to expand,” he says.

“This cycle has been driven or limited from a combination of all the above,” he says. “Our view is we need to rebuild by 2 to 2.5 million head. Keep in mind, given the escalation in carcass weights, we don’t need as many cattle to produce an equal quantity of beef.”

Close adds his thoughts regarding the impact of last week.

“Given all of the turmoil over the past week it is going to be even more difficult to trigger expansion,” he says. “There is no work around for destroyed producer confidence. I think current market action will further delay expansion.”

Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor Predicts Bull Market to Continue

Cattle prices are expected to stay high well into 2026, according to the latest Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor from Farm Journal. Nearly half of agricultural economists surveyed (47%) believe the current bull market in cattle could continue another 19 to 24 months, while another 27% say it could last 13 to 18 months. Only 7% expect prices to peak within the next six months.

“This run isn’t over,” one economist wrote. “At current prices we will see no or little herd expansion.” Another adds the fundamental supply side remains tight: “Clear signals that domestic beef production is increasing may be the key catalyst for a market top.”

“This is a nature of biology to some extent, it takes a while once you even start to retain a heifer for that heifer to produce a calf that then becomes a feeder calf that then becomes a fed calf that then becomes beef at the grocery store itself,” says Ben Brown, an Extension economist with the University of Missouri. “I don’t think we’ve seen necessarily the top of this cattle market yet.”

Even if cattle prices are close to seeing a top, that doesn’t mean prices will crash, he adds.

October Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor

(Lindsey Pound)

What Could End the Rally?

When asked what might trigger a peak in cattle prices, responses to the Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor were mixed — but demand destruction and herd rebuilding topped the list. Economists were asked to choose between five options, including:

The reopening of the U.S./Mexico border to Mexican feeder cattle imports
U.S. economic concerns with fallout from trade tensions with China
Removal of tariffs that would resume high levels of beef imports from Brazil
Demand destruction in the U.S. market

One respondent notes, “All of the above are relevant, but clear signals that domestic beef production is increasing may be more important.” Others pointed to a slowing U.S. economy or producers “beginning to hold back replacement heifers” as potential turning points.

“I have no idea what creates the top, but at current prices, we will see no/little herd expansion,” adds yet another economist.

“Beef Prices Can Stay High Longer Than Most Expect”

Economists agree the U.S. cattle market remains fundamentally strong, supported by limited supplies, robust export demand and solid retail prices. However, they caution the same forces keeping prices high — tight herds, high feed costs and inflation — could eventually cool the rally.

As one economist sums it up: “Beef prices can stay high longer than most expect — until consumers finally say ‘enough.’ That’s when we’ll see the turn.”

How Beef and Dairy Genetics Are Smarter and More Profitable

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 17:12:49 GMT

Understanding your customer’s needs, the power of data and the need for continuous innovation is key to the success of beef and dairy producers. Lorna Marshall, Select Sires vice president of beef genetics, emphasizes the critical role of technology, data and strategic breeding in creating value in the industry today.

Marshall was the featured guest in “ The Future of Beef Show ” podcast Episode 13 .

Her perspective highlights the beef industry’s evolution from traditional breeding methods to a more sophisticated, technology-driven approach.

Marshall’s journey in the artificial insemination (AI) industry spans decades. She explains the AI industry has seen significant consolidation during her career — from 15 cooperatives to now three to four major organizations. She says Select Sires remains the only cooperative AI organization in the U.S.

“Whatever I see happen in the dairy world, beef is going to follow it in five to seven years,” she explains.

Key takeaways from the podcast include:

1. Beef-on-Dairy Evolution: The beef on dairy market has transformed dramatically since 2018, creating more valuable cattle by crossing beef bulls with dairy cows.

She says AI companies are focusing on terminal traits for beef-on-dairy, creating bulls specifically designed for producing high-value feeder cattle.

The biggest challenge in the beef-on-dairy space is semen fertility. Marshall acknowledges male-sexed semen would be a good option for beef-on-dairy, but the conception level is not where it needs to be today.

“Fertility is three times more important than any other trait,” Marshall explains about working with dairy producers. “Sexed semen, while we have really improved that product a lot, it still does not have the same level of fertility and conception rate.”

She adds management and cow fertility play a role in the success of sexed semen conception so it is something that can be considered herd by herd, not something implemented across the entire dairy population.

“If I could figure out how to improve bull fertility,” she says. “That would be the No. 1 thing I could do to improve business for Select Sires, or really, any AI organization.”

Fertility is not highly heritable, and there can easily be a 20-percentage-point difference between high and low bulls.

“The thing I love most about beef-on-dairy is, I love data, and I, finally, for the first time in my career, have data to play with,” Marshall says.

2. Genomic Testing: There’s a growing potential for genomic testing in beef cattle, similar to what’s been done in the dairy industry, to improve genetic selection and herd performance.

“If I was a commercial beef producer, I’d be wanting to test my commercial females and figure out who are really the elite ones,” she explains. “And then let’s go build our replacement heifers out of those.”

3. Breed and Genetic Trends: Genetic selection is becoming increasingly precise and data driven. The future of beef genetics lies in comprehensive trait measurement and genomic understanding.

She also emphasizes the beef industry’s evolution from single-trait selection to a more comprehensive strategy.

“There is always a pendulum changing or swinging,” Marshall says. “You’re always going to have people that are more willing to go out on those pendulums farther than others. And that’s what I love about our commercial industry, they always kind of keep the seedstock industry a little bit grounded.”

She explains at Select Sires they strive to provide the customer what they really want.

“We need some of those extremes, honestly, to kind of move the industry forward in different areas,” she says. “Look what we’ve done on traits like marbling. We’ve totally changed the beef demand dynamic, because we’ve created a more palatable product that our consumers really like.”

Comparing the seedstock and commercial beef industries, she says seedstock producers generally select for extreme in traits trying to be breed leading.

“Our commercial customers have almost always selected more for balance,” she summarizes. “But really the secret sauce to getting bulls that are going to sell lots of semen would combine phenotype and genotype, and then their pedigree is always important.”

Marshall predicts the industry will continue to develop new traits that we don’t measure today.

“We may get rid of some of the traits that we have and measure things in a much more profitable way, like age to harvest,” she adds.

She also emphasizes the need for bulls that will produce the next generation of the nation’s cow herd.

“We better have some maternal bulls in our lineup, because beef producers are ready to start rebuilding the cow herd,” Marshall says.

4. Labor Barrier for AI : The labor needed for synchronization is a critical challenge in AI adoption.

Marshall identifies labor as the primary barrier to increasing AI adoption.

“Until we figure out how to synchronize that cow with less labor, it’s going to be really hard to move the needle in a significant way,” she says.

Marshall summarizes the future of the beef industry relies on these four strategies:

- Embracing technological innovation
- Maintaining genetic diversity
- Focusing on commercial producer needs
- Continuous learning and adaptation

Check out the podcast to learn more about how Marshall believes how data, genetics and innovation is shaping the future of beef cattle production.

Rebuilding the U.S. Cow Herd: A Calculated Climb

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 12:14:48 GMT

Lance Zimmerman is a senior beef industry analyst with RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness and helped provide research and insights for Drover’s State of the Beef Industry report.

Cow liquidation is in the rearview. Heifer retention is underway. The U.S. cattle cycle is officially shifting into rebuild mode, but this recovery will not be a stampede. It’s shaping up as a slow, strategic climb.

Beef processing bottlenecks, persistent drought, soaring feed costs, labor shortages and post-pandemic friction kept cow-calf margins relatively tight from 2016 to 2022. Some of those pressures have eased, but with herd numbers set to grow, others could easily resurface. As producers hold back more heifer calves this fall, herd replenishment remains a cautious and calculated exercise.

Rabobank expects the Jan. 1, 2026, beef cow inventory to be 28 million head, up 200,000 head from the prior year. A second increase of less than 500,000 head is likely over the following year. In short, do not expect dramatic shifts early in this rebuilding effort. From 2024 to 2026, the nation’s beef cow herd will hold relatively steady (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: U.S. beef cow inventory on January 1

(USDA, Rabobank 2026-2030 forecast)

More meaningful herd growth is forecast from Jan. 1, 2027, into the early 2030s. But even then, the peak inventory projection is likely to be 500,000 to 1 million head below the 2019 highs, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Thanks to long-term efficiency gains across the U.S. beef sector, a rebuild topping 30.5 million cows might be more than enough to hit new record high in total production. Per capita beef supplies could reach levels not seen in more than two decades. Still, adding upward of 2.5 million cows during this next phase will be complicated.

According to the latest Farm Journal State of the Beef Industry survey , just 47% of producers are considering expanding their cow herd within the next five years, a four-point drop from last year’s already modest number.

Factors Affecting Herd Building

The hesitation is rooted in hard realities. Rising input costs, from fencing and equipment to replacement heifers, are straining budgets. And it is not just the higher price tags. Volatility is adding pressure. Fluctuating expenses are muddying financial planning, tightening cash flow, and making profit targets feel increasingly out of reach.

Access to pastureland is still a sore spot. Prices keep climbing, while land-use restrictions and expanding suburbs are blocking opportunities for cattle producers.

Federal government shifts are not helping morale either. Regulatory red tape and compliance demands already pull significant time and resources. Adding the moving target of trade policy and a maze of new rules, and producers find themselves burning hours to stay current. The burden is exhausting.

Behind much of the fatigue in cattle production lies a familiar challenge: aging producers and a shrinking labor pool. Finding help is tough and getting tougher.

Older ranchers worry about health, longevity and who will take the reins next. Meanwhile, the next generation faces a different battle: securing capital, gaining know-how and finding tenacity that defined those who came before. The grit is there — so are the obstacles.

Given these constraints, can the beef cow inventory forecast outlined earlier really take shape in the coming years? Improving drought conditions and profitability help. Survey responses suggest it will take even more than that.

USDA’s latest Census of Agriculture reveals a clear trend: big cow-calf operations are getting bigger. Since 2012, producers with 200 head or more added 2.2 million cows, a 20% jump. Meanwhile, operations less than 200 head lost 2 million, an 11% drop. The shift was established by 2017 and accelerated into 2022.

Rabobank sees the 2027 census amplifying the trend: big operations getting even bigger. They have the capital cushion to absorb risk and make bold moves without jeopardizing the ranch. That is critical when bred cow and heifer prices push past $4,000 per head in the next few years and calf prices soften as supply grows later in the cattle cycle.

Producer age matters even more in this rebuilding effort. According to the 2022 Census of Agriculture, beef cattle operators now average 58.3 years old, the oldest among all U.S. livestock and poultry producer groups.

Younger ranchers might be more willing to bet bigger during this rebuild. For many families, it’s a natural handoff, an exit lane for older operators to transition decision-making to the next generation. Also, herd expansion could unlock new revenue and pull sons and daughters back into the ranch.

Cow-calf producers stand apart in the beef supply chain as fixed-cost operators in a largely margin-driven sector, but that distinction is blurring.

As herd size grows larger and ranch leadership skews younger, margin thinking will gain ground. Larger producers focus on profit per cow or per acre. Younger ranchers lean into data and strategy.

With volatile market prices and uncertainty surrounding the cattle business, margin-minded cow-calf operators are not just likely to evolve during this cow herd rebuild. They are essential to the U.S. restocking effort.

The State of the Beef Industry Report includes input from nearly 500 beef producers. The annual report provides information to help producers when making decisions. Click here to download the full report.

For more insights to the report as well as producer and economist perspectives, watch the State of the Beef Industry Webinar exclusive on FarmJournal.tv . The panel includes Ken Odde, a South Dakota cattle producer, along with Matt Perrier, Angus seedstock producer from Kansas, and Lance Zimmerman, RaboResearch senior beef industry analyst. You won’t want to miss their thoughts on the beef industry today and in the future.

Your Next Read: Consumer Craze for Protein Drives Beef Demand

— Lance Zimmerman serves as RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness’ senior beef industry analyst. Discovering and implementing decision-friendly business solutions for agricultural and food companies has been the focus of his career. Growing up on a western Kansas farming operation that includes a commercial cow-calf herd has fueled his passion for the industry.

Are We Seeing Signs of Herd Rebuilding?

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 16:41:54 GMT

The U.S. beef cow inventory has reached its lowest point since 1962, marking what appears to be the bottom of the current cattle cycle. Tight supply is driving the strong pricing environment beef producers are enjoying today.

“For cow-calf producers right now, things are as good as they’ve probably ever been,” says Troy Rowan, University of Tennessee assistant professor. “Even though things are really good, producers are conscientious and vigilant about potential challenges,” Rowan summarizes.

Agreeing with Rowan, South Dakota cattleman Ken Odde adds while profits are currently strong, inflation quickly erodes economic gains. He stresses the importance of risk management and diversification.

Early Signs of Herd Rebuilding?

This is the million-dollar question: Are there encouraging signs of expansion?

“The beef industry is not currently in herd expansion mode, with producers hesitant to retain heifers due to high costs and economic uncertainties,” says Dave Weaber, Terrain senior animal protein analyst.

In Drovers State of Industry Report to be released the week of Sept. 15, we breakdown the July USDA cattle inventory and cattle on feed reports. While the USDA reports showed the smallest U.S. herd in history and continuing tightening numbers on feed, analysts predict producers have not experienced the highest cattle prices, yet.

“Our national herd size has the industry at an interesting point,” Rowan says. “Prices are at all-time highs, inputs are reasonable and more cow-calf enterprises are profitable than ever. When the industrywide rebuild will happen remains up in the air, but producers are keeping in mind that the high-flying industry right now is not going to stick around forever. They’re starting to adopt new technologies, leveling up their crossbreeding programs and expand opportunities for non-cattle related income on their ranches.”

Weaber adds producers need to be intentional about herd expansion, understanding the financial implications of adding new cattle.

Beef-on-Dairy Fills the Beef Supply Gap

“The current dynamics of supply is going to be a challenge,” says Jarrod Gillig, Cargill senior vice president, managing director for beef.

Gillig summarizes the cattle industry is experiencing a critical period of transition. He doesn’t expect the cow herd to return to previous peak levels of 32 million head. Instead, he predicts the gap in supply will be filled by beef-on-dairy calves.

Nick Hardcastle, Cargill senior director of meat grading and technical specialist, explains how the beef-on-dairy calves are an upgrade to the traditional Holstein steer and the positive impact they are making on beef supply.

“Beef-on-dairy is more desirable because it helped overcome several Holstein difficulties,” he says. “Improvements include red meat yield — more meat to a consumer — as well as improved acceptance in branded programs.”

Hardcastle says the beef-on-dairy cattle are filling the supply gap by filling pens in the Plains states where feeders are needed, and they are widely accepted by feeders and packers.

Defining Future Beef Producer Success

Odde says the beef industry is not just surviving but positioning itself for significant transformation.

“Producers who remain flexible, technologically savvy and strategic in their approach will be best positioned to thrive in this changing environment,” he says.

Weaber agrees saying successful producers will be those who can adapt, manage costs effectively and align themselves with evolving market trends.

“Don’t let cost get away from you,” Weaber warns, emphasizing that “being a low-cost, high-productivity producer means you get to make money seven, eight or nine years of the cycle.”

He stresses the importance of understanding financial implications, particularly during market transitions.

“If we’re not working on the business, we can’t work in the business,” Weaber adds, summarizing his philosophy regarding producers’ need to adopt more strategic, data-driven approaches.

The State of the Beef Industry Report includes input from nearly 500 beef producers. The annual report provides information to help producers when making decisions. Click here to download the full report.

Your Next Read: 47% of Beef Producers Plan to Increase Herd Numbers

Success From The Start: Calf Health Starts Before Birth

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 13:11:35 GMT

If a calf struggles during its first 60 days of life, it’s going to carry that through all phases of production. Starting a calf, whether in a traditional beef or beef-on-dairy scenario, the right way is paramount to the lifetime health of that animal.

This is the message stressed by Dr. Taylor Engle, Four Star Veterinary Services, during episode eight of “ The Future of Beef Show ” podcast. He says success starts before a calf is born.

“There are a lot of really good genetics in the beef industry we can use. However, if you put that calf in an environment to fail, genetics does not play a factor,” he says. “We have to do everything right from an environmental piece to maximize the genetic potential.”

Check out the podcast to learn more about these five key messages discussed by Engle and the podcast’s hosts:

Environment matters more than genetics. Engle emphasizes if you put a calf in an environment to fail, genetics won’t save it. Management and early life conditions are critical to an animal’s success.
Calf health starts before birth. Proper care of the cow before calving, quality colostrum and a clean birthing environment are crucial for a calf’s lifetime health.

Engle encourages producers to think about the cow’s condition before, during and after breeding.

“Everyone gets really fired up — and rightfully so — about colostrum. Not all colostrum is created equal,” he says. “It’s what we are doing to set that cow up to have the best colostrum for that calf. Whether it’s beef-on-dairy or native, the right vaccines for the right diseases at the right time matters.”
Communication is key across the production chain. Sharing information about calf health, vaccination history and management practices between different stages of production can significantly improve overall animal performance.

Engle encourages producers to record vaccination and treatment information and then share it. Communicating with the feedyard is important to help the feeder decide on how to treat cattle.
Don’t be quick to treat — understand the root cause. Instead of immediately administering antibiotics, veterinarians should first investigate the underlying management or environmental issues causing health problems.

“We were trained to think it’s a disease, and more often times than not, there is a disease present. But there’s been something along the process where we have stressed that animal and caused disease,” he explains. “We’re always looking at it from an environmental standpoint and a management standpoint — the calf isn’t the culprit. What’s going on? Why did that calf break with respiratory disease? They don’t spontaneously get sick. Something happened. Was it a weather, feed or stressful event?”

He adds management strategies and mentality can be keys to determining the cause of a sickness.

“It’s a hard thing — whether you’re a nutritionist or vet — to have that hard conversation with a producer, be upfront with them and say, ‘It’s something we’ve done,’” he says. “A lot of times, there’s management practices that messed up along the way, and the result is a disease.”

In his practice, he works with the producer to help them understand and recognize the management strategies to improve the outcomes.

“In the beef industry, a lot of the mentality is, ‘We’ve never done it this way,’” he says.
“In comparison, in the poultry and pig industries, producers will say, ‘If it increases my production, I’ll do it.’ They have the mentality of being willing to give something a try to see if it increases health.”

Engle adds, “I always tell producers if you want A results, you got to give A effort,” he explains. “You can’t have a C -plus effort and expect A results.”
Stress management is more important than treatment protocols. Focus on reducing stress and creating optimal conditions for calves, rather than relying solely on medical interventions.

“The calves don’t lie,” Engle says.

He emphasizes the importance of careful observation, advising producers to “read calves every day” and make real-time adjustments.

Beef-on-Dairy Calf Health
Engle also has extensive experience with beef-on-dairy calf management and production and discussed how those animals compare to traditional beef calves, highlighting how multiple touch points and movements bring beef-on-dairy calves unique challenges — including different feeding systems and varied vaccine and management protocols at each location.

As a positive, he says, “In the beef-on-dairy space, we have all the data points, or we have the opportunity to collect all the data points. Then you can start making decisions.”

With this complex — but data-rich — production model, there is significant potential for improving calf health and performance.

Engle challenges producers to think holistically about animal health, management and production.

“It’s not the animal that’s usually causing the problems,” he says in summary. “It’s usually producer’s management or oversight. As farms have gotten bigger, the skill gap as we go higher actually closes. Everybody who has 10,000-head of cattle on feed, or more, probably knows a lot about feeding cattle. But what are you going to do for a competitive advantage that the next feedyard isn’t? I think a lot of that’s looking internally at your management strategies and your consulting team. It’s a team effort to get to where you want to be. Set those goals and look at what you need to do better to be where you want to be in the next five to 10 years.”

Be Aware: Dangerous Asian Longhorned Tick Continues Migrating West

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 14:42:45 GMT

The Asian Longhorned Tick (ALHT) poses a serious threat to cattle health. ALHTs carry Theileria, which is a protozoan parasite that infects red and white blood cells. It can lead to anemia and, in some cases, death.

ALHTs are native to eastern Asia, eastern China, Japan, the Russian Far East and Korea but were introduced to Australia, New Zealand and western Pacific Islands. In other countries, it can also be called a bush tick, cattle tick or scrub tick.

In the U.S., ALHT was first detected in New Jersey in 2017. Since then, it has spread to more than 20 states with recent confirmations in Illinois , Michigan and Iowa .

According to USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) ALHTs are known to carry pathogens, which can cause disease and may also cause distress to the host from their feeding in large numbers. For example, a dairy cow may have a 25% decrease in milk production after becoming a host.

A female can reproduce without a mate and lay up to 2,000 eggs at a time. This can cause great stress on a heavily infested animal and result in reduced growth and production. A severe infestation can kill the animal from excessive blood loss.

Asian longhorned tick life stages and relative actual size.

(Photos of unfed ticks by Centers for Disease Control. Photos of engorged ticks by Jim Occi, Rutgers, Center for Vector Biology.)

What does it look like?

Unfed ALHTs range from a light reddish-tan to a dark red with brown, dark markings. While the adult female grows to the size of a pea when full of blood, other stages of the tick are very small — about the size of a sesame seed.

Adult females are a grey-green with yellowish markings. Male ticks are rare.

APHIS reports it only takes a single tick to create a population in a new location.

The above photos are of a AHLT engorged (on the left) and an adult AHLT not engorged.

(New Jersey Department of Agriculture)

ALHTs need warm-blooded hosts to feed and survive. They have been found on various species of domestic animals — such as sheep, goats, dogs, cats, horses, cattle and chickens — and wildlife. The tick has also been found on people.

What are the health risks?

APHIS says ALHTs are not known to carry Lyme disease, but they can cause tickborne diseases affecting humans and animals such as:

Rocky Mountain spotted fever
Heartland virus
Powassan virus

APHIS says those diseases have not been confirmed outside of a laboratory setting in the U.S. In addition, U.S. ALHT populations can transmit U.S. Theileria orientalis Ikeda strain (Cattle theileriosis) in the laboratory.

In an Iowa State University release , Grant Dewell, Extension beef veterinarian and associate professor, says cattle affected by Theileriosis will show signs of lethargy, anemia and difficulty breathing. They may develop ventral edema, exercise intolerance, jaundice and abortions.

“Although signs of Theileriosis are similar to anaplasmosis, younger animals and calves often display more severe signs compared to mature cows and bulls,” he says. “Due to anemia from both tick infestation and Theileria, the risk of death can be elevated. If cattle producers suspect either Theileria or ALHT, have a veterinarian collect appropriate samples and submit them to a veterinary diagnostic lab.”

According to an Oklahoma State University press release , under laboratory conditions ALHT is a competent vector of numerous pathogens that can cause disease in humans, including Rickettsia rickettsii (Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever), Heartland Virus and Powassan Virus.

In “ Clinical Infectious Diseases, ” Bobbi Pritt, MD, MSC, with the division of clinical microbiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., reported a human bite that occurred in New York in 2019. She says though the report of a human bite isn’t surprising, it proves the invasive longhorned tick continues to bite hosts in its newest location.

“This is extremely worrisome for several reasons,” she writes. “One reason is Asian longhorned ticks can carry several important human pathogens, including the potentially fatal severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) virus and Rickettsia japonica, which cases Japanese spotted fever. While these pathogens have yet to be found in the United States, there is a risk of their future introduction.”

Also, Pritt says several other human pathogens have been detected in the ticks, but it’s not clear if the ALHT species are able to transmit them to humans. They include Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Rickettsia, and Borrelia species. Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria.

She warns the organisms are present in states where ALHTs have been found and that it’s possible the tick — known to be an aggressive biter— might be able to transmit Heartland virus given its close relationship to SFTS virus.

How to Tackle Ticks

According to APHIS, various strategies effectively mitigate tick populations on hosts and in the environment.

Regular tick treatments should be effective against ALHTs. Consult your veterinarian or agriculture extension agent about which products to use.
Check your livestock for ticks regularly.
Safely remove ticks from people and pets as quickly as possible. If you think you’ve found an ALHT, seal it in a zip-top bag and give it to your veterinarian for identification.
Habitat modifications can help prevent ticks on feedlots and pastures. This may include mowing grass, removing trees, reducing shade by thinning trees, understory removal and placing mulch barriers.
Apply acaricide using label instructions to tick habitats, such as woodland edges and grassy patches, during times when ticks are most actively seeking hosts. Although it varies by year, ALHTs are generally active from March to November. Consult your state and local regulations for approved acaricides.

“Cattle producers should aggressively control external parasites this summer,” Dewell summarizes. “Insecticide ear tags alone are not enough to control ticks. Consider incorporating a back rubber or regularly applying a pour-on during the summer. Pyrethroid-based products are also available that include a tick control label. If an increase in tick infestations is observed, an avermectin pour-on may be the best intervention.”

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Rollins Rolls Out 5-Point Plan to Contain New World Screwworm

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 19:01:29 GMT

Today Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced a five-pronged plan to combat New World screwworm (NWS) – a pest that would devastate ranchers if it made its way across the border.

Rollins made her announcement at the Moore Air Base facility near Edinburg, Texas. Moore was instrumental as a sterile fly production lab to rid the U.S. of NWS in the 1960s and 1970s. Hundreds of millions of flies were reared, sterilized with radiation and dropped from aircraft to eliminate the parasitic pest that preyed upon wildlife and livestock. According to a USDA spokesperson it will cost an estimated $8.5 million to get the base up and running as a distribution facility.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins this morning launched an $8.5 million sterile New World screwworm (NWS) fly dispersal facility in South Texas and announced a plan to enhance USDA’s already robust ability to detect, control, and eliminate this pest.

(U.S. Department of Agriculture)

According to the Texas Wildlife Association , there are currently more than 1,800 cases of livestock infestation in southern Mexico. The flies are moving north and are currently 600 miles from the south Texas border.

“We have defeated the screwworm before, and we will do it again,” Rollins says.

Here in McAllen, TX to announce a BOLD 5-pronged plan to combat the deadly parasite called New World Screwworm – which would devastate ranchers if it made its way across the border.

We are protecting producers, strengthening biosecurity, and ALWAYS standing up for American… pic.twitter.com/VHOlqZyZ9a
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) June 18, 2025

Her five-pronged plan to combat NWS includes:

Stop the pest from spreading in Mexico.
Rollins plans to continue partnering with her Mexican counterparts and using sterile insect technology to stop the spread. This includes investing $21 million to produce up to 100 million additional sterile flies weekly.

“We are first enhancing the international sterile fly production and investing $21 million in renovation of an existing fly facility in southern Mexico, which will provide up to 100 million additional sterile flies every week to stop the spread,” Rollins says.

Currently, the only sterile fly facility is located in Panama. It’s jointly run by the Panamanian government and the U.S. government. USDA had previously announced its plan to invest in the retrofiting of a fruit fly facility in Chiapas, Mexico, to produce additional sterile flies.

According to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association , “The Chiapas facility produces about 117 million flies per week, but to form an effective barrier along the U.S. southern border, we need upward of 300 million sterile flies per week.”
Protect the U.S. at all costs.
Rollins temporarily closed the southern border to live animal imports and intercepting illegally introduced livestock. USDA is working closely with Mexico to improve surveillance.

“I do believe we have met and moved into a new era of productive partnership —perhaps better than ever before — with our Mexican counterparts,” Rollins says.
Maximize our readiness.
This will be achieved by partnering with state animal health officials to update emergency management plans and stockpile therapeutics for ranchers.
Take the fight to the screwworm.
The domestic fight includes establishing a sterile fly dispersal facility at Moore Air Base. Rollins says they are exploring options for building a domestic production facility at Moore that could produce up to 300 million sterile flies per week.

“We can’t get a brand new facility up and running probably before two or three years. So, that’s why we’ve got to really focus on the today,” Rollins explains.

She also announced USDA will be hosting listening sessions in affected areas starting next week.
Innovate Our Way to Eradication.
Leverage the sound science including USDA’s Agriculture Research Service (ARS) to continue to quickly develop novel treatments, preventatives and response strategies. Rollins says this includes working with land grant universities in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. She listed these key strategies during the press conference:
- Develop better fly traps and lures
- Provide local training
- Improve surveillance methods
- Create new response strategies

Nearly 80 lawmakers led by House Ag Committee Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pa.) sent a bipartisan letter on Tuesday to Rollins urging immediate action and promising congressional support for the significant funding required.

The letter included this message, “When looking solely at the historical impact of NWS in Texas, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) estimates a contemporary outbreak would cost producers $732 million per year and the Texas economy a loss of $1.8 billion. Extrapolating those results to the states within the historic range of NWS pre-eradication, a contemporary outbreak of NWS could cost producers $4.3 billion per year and cause a total economic loss of more than $10.6 billion. This does not account for the possible expansion of NWS beyond the historic range.”

U.S. Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas) was at the announcement and recently shared in a letter to Rollins these key advantages of the Moore Air Base location:

Border proximity: The proximity to the border with Mexico is crucial for effective monitoring and control of potential incursions of invasive fly species. A facility in this region would allow for rapid response and containment, minimizing the spread of infestations into the U.S.
Existing agricultural infrastructure: The region boasts a robust agricultural sector with established infrastructure and expertise in livestock management. This existing framework would facilitate efficient integration of the sterile fly facility and streamline its operations. Additionally, Moore Air Base has operations runways equipped to distribute sterile flies.
Strategic location: Moore Air Base offers a central location for distribution of sterile flies to other areas in the southern U.S., if such a need arises. Additionally, this base was the site of a facility used in the 1960s to successfully combat NWS.
Economic impact: The establishment of such a facility would provide valuable economic opportunities for the region by generating jobs and stimulating local economies.

U.S. Congressman Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) summarized at the announcement, “This is important to the whole country. We are going to be aggressive about this, and we are going to make sure that we don’t get screwed by the screwworm.”

Your Next Read: Urgency in Action: We Must Eradicate New World Screwworm

Data Shows Larger Hay Supply and Lower Hay Prices

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 15:20:52 GMT

Larger May 1 stocks and increased year over year hay production led to larger hay supplies in 2024 (Figure 1). Total hay production in 2024 was up 3.3 percent year over year and combined with May 1 hay stocks up 46.6 percent over 2023 levels to increase the total hay supply by 7.9 percent compared to year earlier levels. The total hay supply was 1.7 percent below the ten-year average supply from 2014-2023.

(Peel)

Total hay production includes total alfalfa hay production, almost unchanged from 2023 levels and 8.4 percent below the ten-year average as well as total other hay production, up 5.5 percent year over year and 0.6 percent above the 2014-2023 average.

Coming into winter 2024/2025, Dec. 1 hay stocks were up 6.3 percent year over year, though still down 3.2 percent from the ten-year average. Hay supplies have recovered from the drought-reduced levels of 2022-2023 (Figure 1) and, as a result, hay prices have dropped from record levels (Figure 2).

(Peel)

Table 1 shows the top ten state rankings for December 1 Stocks; All Hay Production: Alfalfa Hay Production and Other Hay Production and highlights the considerable regional variation in hay production and stocks. Texas is the largest hay producer, mostly other hay, with production and Dec. 1 stocks well above average.

Alfalfa hay production was down compared to the ten-year average in some important dairy production states (California and Idaho) as well as in some mostly beef cow states (Montana and South Dakota) that depend on alfalfa hay (Table 1).

(Peel)

In many states, increased hay supplies are providing more management flexibility for cattle producers and lower hay costs are reducing annual cost of production somewhat. However, among major beef cow states, Florida, Kansas, Montana, and North Dakota, 2024 Dec. 1 hay stocks are down year over year and below the ten-year average.

Your next read: Future Proof Your Cattle Management

U.S. Cattle Inventory Reaches 73 Year Low

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 18:26:37 GMT

Not many ranchers active today will remember the last time the U.S. cattle industry was this small. On January 1, 2024, the All Cattle and Calves inventory was 87.15 million head, the smallest total inventory since 1951. The All Cattle and Calves inventory is 1.9 percent smaller year over year and is the fifth consecutive year of declining cattle inventories, a total decrease of 7.65 million head or 8.1 percent since the most recent peak in 2019. The 2023 calf crop was 33.6 million head, down 2.5 percent year over year and the smallest calf crop since 2014.

The January 1, 2024 beef cow herd inventory was 28.22 million head, down 2.5 percent year over year and a decrease of 3.47 million head or 10.9 percent lower, from the cyclical peak in 2019 (Table 1). The current beef cow inventory is the smallest beef cow herd since 1961. Table 1 shows that the top ten beef cow states, which currently represent 57.3 percent of total beef cows, accounted for 79.4 percent of the year over year decrease in total beef cow numbers and 67.7 percent of the decrease from 2019 to 2024.

The inventory of beef replacement heifers on January 1, 2024 was 4.86 million head, down 1.4 percent year over year. However, the 2023 beef replacement heifer inventory was revised down by 4.5 percent from the initial value reported one year ago. Thus, the 2024 inventory of beef replacement heifers is down 11.4 percent from the 2022 inventory and is the smallest beef replacement heifer total since 1950. Since 2001, USDA has provided the portion of beef replacement heifers that are expected to calve in the coming year. The current inventory of these bred beef heifers is 3.05 million head, the smallest in the data back to 2001.

The estimated supply of feeder cattle outside feedlots is calculated by summing the inventories of other heifers, steers >500 pounds and calves <500 pounds and subtracting the inventory of animals already in feedlots. On January 1, 2024 inventories of other heifers, steers and calves under 500 pounds were all down year over year and feedlot inventories were up 1.6 percent leading to an estimated supply of feeder cattle outside feedlots of 24.2 million head, down 4.2 percent from one year ago. The estimated feeder supply can be consistently calculated back to 1972 and the 2024 value is the smallest in that 53-year period.

The smaller cattle inventory is projected to result in a decrease of about five percent in total beef production to roughly 25.5 billion pounds in 2024. That’s three times as much beef as was produced in 1951, the last time the total cattle inventory was this small; impressive growth in productivity in the beef cattle industry. Nevertheless, the current ability to produce beef is smaller than market potential today and the industry will look to rebuild numbers and increase beef production when conditions allow.

Derrell Peel, OSU Extension livestock marketing specialist, says the recent extreme temperatures in the country could negatively impact prices on SunUp TV from January 27, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Bgb-OUYWo

Study Confirms Facial Recognition Technology’s Success in Disease Prediction

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 18:14:04 GMT

A collaborative study between animal agtech startup MyAnIML and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) successfully corroborated the technology’s predictive ability to proactively manage devastating disease outbreaks in cattle production.

MyAnIML used proprietary facial recognition and deep learning technology to accurately predict Infectious Bovine Keratoconjunctivitis (IBK), or bovine pinkeye, 99.4% of the time and several days before veterinarians were able to detect symptoms, according to published study results .

USDA Agricultural Research Service scientists Mike Clawson and Larry Kuehn, who have researched IBK for years at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, shared their expertise on the project.

“Early detection of disease is critical to healthy herd management – giving producers the chance to separate sick animals, control spread and judiciously use antibiotics before a large outbreak occurs,” said Mike Clawson, an USDA Agricultural Research Service molecular biologist and project researcher.

“The results of the MyAnIML study demonstrate how far and how impactful AI-powered technology can be toward ensuring a safe, resilient and sustainable U.S. food supply chain.”

The MyAnIML and USDA study included 870 beef cattle located on three different Kansas ranches during the summers of 2021 and 2022. Bovine pinkeye is highly contagious and the most common ocular disease of cattle globally, costing U.S. producers alone an estimated $150 million annually in lost performance and treatment costs. There are no effective vaccines for IBK, forcing producers to treat infected animals with antibiotics, thereby elevating the risk of developing antibiotic-resistance bacteria strains that threaten human health.

Building off this collaboration, MyAnIML and USDA are applying the technology next to predict Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD). As the single most economically impactful cattle disease, BRD costs the U.S. feedlot industry potentially more than $900 million annually, according to the American Society of Animal Science.

“Building off our AI platform’s ability to distinguish between ‘healthy’ and ‘sick’ cattle two to three days before symptoms were diagnosed, the next step is expanding MyAnIML’s repertoire of diseases and health events to offer producers new tools to ensure a safe food supply,” said Shekhar Gupta, MyAnIML CEO and founder.

MyAnIML’s patent-pending technology platform uses AI, facial recognition and inexpensive GoPro cameras to automatically capture and analyze subtle changes in a cow’s muzzle.

Like a human fingerprint, each cattle muzzle is unique, and can be used to track specific cows. However, MyAnIML, is the first to use muzzle dermatoglyphics to not only identify cows, but as a health predictor of diseases such as BRD, IBK, foot root and uterine infections, proving that subtle changes in the bumps and ridges on a cow muzzle are a precursor of a health event.

MyAnIML’s trial partners have also successfully used the technology to monitor the health status of cows going into estrus, early stages of labor and even subtle health stressors, like the need for more nutrition while nursing calves.

“The muzzle is an incredible mirror into cattle health and well-being. Humans just didn’t have the ability to ‘see’ what the muzzle was telling us without the help of MyAnIML’s advanced AI and facial recognition technology,” Gupta said.

Since its founding in 2021, MyAniML has:

● Developed a proprietary dataset of 3000 muzzle images of beef cattle, the first cattle facial and muzzle image library for health management.

● Partnered in trial projects with multiple Midwest cattle production facilities.

● Released an inexpensive Bluetooth-enabled “smart” ear tag and app that helps large-scale commercial feedlots and stockyards quickly locate potentially sick animals identified by the MyAnIML predictive platform.

● Signed a partnership agreement with DairyFI, an India-based startup, in January. With 308 million cows, India has the largest cattle herd in the world, but suffers from lack of adequate cattle health services, greatly reducing the economic and productivity potential of India’s cattle industry.

With positive results from the collaboration, large-scale trials, veterinarian feedback and ongoing product development, MyAnIML is getting ready for broad-scale commercialization. The company received angel investment funding in 2021 and is currently in the process of a seed funding investment round to expand its technology in cattle, as well as to include other livestock and companion animals.

About MyAnIML

MyAnIML invented and is commercializing the first-of-its-kind platform for early disease prediction in cattle using facial recognition technology focused on a cow’s muzzle. The initial discovery is the product of intense curiosity and a sense of purpose by the founder, a leading expert in generative AI and emerging uses of web-based blockchain technology. MyAnIML’s mission is to help ensure the health and well-being of cattle while ensuring an affordable and safe food supply. For more information www.myaniml.com

Inaction on Traceability is Unacceptable

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 20:38:00 GMT

The future of the U.S. cattle industry hinges on our ability to swiftly respond to disease outbreaks. Yet, some groups and individuals continue to fight the tools that could protect our livelihoods. The most recent rule to come under fire is USDA’s animal disease traceability regulation.

In the face of a potential FMD outbreak, every minute counts. The choice between outdated methods and advanced technology could mean the difference between a controlled situation and a nationwide catastrophe. Imagine the chaos of an FMD outbreak, with markets shuttered, and producers frantically searching for nearly illegible metal bright tags in the pouring rain. This is not a future we can afford. Some argue that these changes are unnecessary or burdensome, the reality is that clinging to outdated ideas, practices and technology puts our entire industry at risk.

USDA’s new rules call for the use of an electronic identification (EID) tag in breeding cattle, 18 months of age and older, being transported across state lines. This class of cattle has required an ID tag for more than a decade. USDA is simply changing the technology from a metal bright tag to an updated EID tag.

Innovation has always been the backbone of American agriculture. The use of EID tag technology is not just a step forward; it’s a necessity for an industry that must be prepared for anything in a time of porous borders and uncertain global politics. USDA’s rule will allow cattle to be tracked more quickly in the event of foot and mouth disease (FMD) or similar emergency, when time is critical. We all know that the metal clips in the ears of cattle are nearly impossible to read after a year or two. We also know that reading them, writing down the information from the tag and transferring it to a database is slow, cumbersome and subject to human error. These issues can be alleviated by simply running a wand over an EID tag, making traceability faster and less error prone.

There are still issues and concerns with USDA’s effort to upgrade technology. One of the issues that must be addressed is how data is gathered and stored. Producer privacy is paramount to this effort. NCBA has long advocated for tag data to be held by private, third-party companies, like CattleTrace, rather than USDA. A third-party holder of information helps protect producer privacy while also allowing the rapid traceback required in the event of a disease outbreak. Cost is the other factor that NCBA has worked to alleviate. To help lower the costs of USDA’s rule, NCBA was able to secure $15 million in funding for the purchase of EID tags, to ensure that cattle producers aren’t saddled with added compliance costs.

None of us in the agricultural community desire more government intrusion in our businesses or our lives. NCBA has stood on the front lines fighting, and might I say winning, many of those issues for decades. We have always stood for industry solutions to industry problems and worked to be proactive in creating those solutions. Those whose only answer is “no,” and those individuals and groups who would allow perfect to be the enemy of good, have created a vacuum that the government is more than happy to fill. It is past time for us, as cattle producers, to create an industry-led and industry-controlled solution to disease traceability. Our current system and the ability to rapidly respond to a real disease outbreak is insufficient to protect each of us and our livelihoods. Now is the time for the cattle industry to lead, not lag.

Purina Animal Nutrition Releases Comprehensive Beef-on-Dairy Industry Report

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 18:04:40 GMT

Purina Animal Nutrition has announced the release of its Beef-on-Dairy Industry Report, a collaborative effort featuring beef-on-dairy research, contributions from industry-leading experts and actionable insights for improving beef-on-dairy programs.

This comprehensive report is tailored to help producers make informed decisions, offering valuable information about genetic selection, management practices, nutrition strategies and market dynamics associated with beef-on-dairy production.

Contributing to this in-depth analysis are Dr. Kirsten Nickles of Certified Angus Beef; Dr. Sara Place of AgNext at Colorado State University; Dr. Robert Weaber of Kansas State University; Dr. Dale Woerner of Texas Tech University; along with Purina Animal Nutrition experts Dr. Troy Wistuba, Dr. Olivia Genther-Schroeder and Ted Perry, M.S.

“We are seeing calf prices like we have never seen before with day-old calves bringing nearly $900. This opens doors of opportunity for producers to maximize their profit potential and meet the rising demand for high-quality beef,” says Laurence Williams, dairy beef cross development for Purina Animal Nutrition. “By partnering with these industry leaders, we aim to foster collaboration across the supply chain and provide resources to dairy producers and cattle ranchers that help drive success for their beef-on-dairy programs.”

The Beef-on-Dairy Industry Report can be downloaded at purinamills.com/dairy-beef .

Farm Succession Planning: There's No Magic Wand But These Insights Can Help

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 15:35:36 GMT

The week of June 10, Farm Journal is celebrating the next generation of American agriculture. Our goal is to encourage you to plan for the future and cultivate multigenerational success through the transfer of skills and knowledge. Think tomorrow, act today to align your asset, resource and financial legacy.

Formulating your farm’s succession plan is likely not a straight line.

“It’s a puzzle. All the pieces have to fit together for the picture to look right,” says Polly Dobbs, an Indiana attorney who focuses on estate, wealth transfer and business succession planning. “I don’t have the magic wand. But I know farm owners have to stay focused on their end goal.”

From her professional experience, as well as being part of a seven-generation farm family, Dobbs shares the following observations and insights.

1. The upcoming generation needs to articulate what they want from the current ownership. “The next generation can’t be afraid to start the conversation,” she says. “It could be as simple as saying, ‘I want skin in the game’ or ‘how can we talk about how I could buy you out?’”

2. It’s valuable to share knowledge and experience. “Instead of having the mentality of ‘why is dad still here,’ ask ‘could I shadow you in marketing decisions,” she says.

3. Sweat equity is still often part of the equation for farm ownership transition. With her clients, Dobbs says about 60% of clients who have a family member successor say the next generation has earned the ability to come into ownership on discounted “family friendly” terms due to sweat equity. However, others feel the successive generation’s contributions were not up to expectations, so full price is charged to buy into ownership.

“There’s no legal answer here,” she says. “It’s about family goals. But it is important to be specific of what is required for someone to be able to take on ownership.”
“I ask every retiring age farmer, what is happening with the equipment. Charging a discounted price to buy machinery to someone who has worked hard alongside is like a deferred compensation plan,” she says.

4. “Those who have on-farm family successors are lucky,” she says.

Dobbs says the biggest trend she sees is farm owners looking outside the family tree for the next owners.

“If you’ve got a successor operator, they need continued access to the land base,” she says. “Sometimes the only focus is on how they are buying the machinery or buying the grain bins, but you can’t overlook their access to the land.”

5. Get everything in writing. “Young farmers should be nice to their landlords and plow their driveways, etc. Then ask to secure an option to continue to farm their ground and have a first right to buy it. Handshakes don’t count; it has to be in writing to matter,” Dobbs says.

Dobbs encourages farmers to consult with your local attorney and professional team who know the laws of your state.

Want more insights to plan for the future and be a leader in your field? Sign up to receive Farm Journal newsletters.

Jeff Bezos Donates $30 Million to Develop Fake Meat

Tue, 04 Jun 2024 18:36:48 GMT

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s charity is establishing a multimillion-dollar research facility at North Carolina State University for manufacturing fake meat products, both plant- and cell-based proteins.

According to a release from NC State, the Bezos Earth Fund awarded the university $30 million over five years to create the Bezos Center for Sustainable Protein. The center will become a “biomanufacturing hub for dietary proteins that are environmentally friendly, healthy, accessible and affordable.”

Bezos currently ranks third on Forbes list of wealthiest people with a net worth of more than $196 billion.

NC State also said the center will include numerous partners from academia and industry, as well as chefs and policymakers, to research, create and commercialize new technologies for manufacturing various protein products. It will also provide training for the new workforce needed for advanced food processing. The center will also work with consumers to gauge their protein perceptions and preferences.

“Alternative proteins are unlikely to displace animal proteins,” said Bill Aimutis, co-principal investigator on the grant and co-director of the new center who has experience working with sustainable protein producers and start-up companies. “It is difficult to create an alternative protein product that rivals the flavor and texture of meat and that is also appealing and affordable for consumers. This center is more interested in growing the sustainable protein industry as another option for consumers rather than displacing animal proteins.”

FSIS’ Final Results of H5N1 Testing Confirms Meat Supply is Safe

Thu, 30 May 2024 19:37:44 GMT

Final results of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) beef muscle sampling of cull dairy cows condemned at select FSIS-inspected slaughter facilities confirm the meat supply is safe, the agency said Thursday.

On May 28, 2024, testing was completed on all 109 muscle samples that were collected. No viral particles were detected in 108 out of 109 muscle samples. As previously announced on May 24, viral particles were detected in tissue samples, including diaphragm muscle, from one cow. No meat from these dairy cattle entered the food supply.

USDA has a rigorous meat inspection process, which includes FSIS veterinarians who are present at all federal slaughter facilities. FSIS personnel inspect each animal before slaughter, and all cattle carcasses must pass a second inspection after slaughter and be determined to be fit to enter the human food supply.

FSIS said that while multiple safeguards are in place to protect consumers, the agency continues to recommend consumers properly handle raw meats and cook to a safe internal temperature. Cooking to a safe internal temperature kills bacteria and viruses in meat. Specific recommendations are available online at: Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart | Food Safety and Inspection Service

How #88 Became the Most Popular Cow on Social Media

Fri, 17 May 2024 20:28:13 GMT

#88 is quite possibly the most popular cow on social media right now, and it was one social media post that started it all.

“It’s kind of a fun little deal. I put on X a little sarcastic clip about the eclipse, and I saw her walking through the field, and she’s a very large cow even at that time. And I just mentioned something about, ‘the eclipse is coming’ as she walked away,” says Clay Scott, a farmer and rancher near Ulysses, Kansas.

The eclipse is coming!! pic.twitter.com/OZfYESouM2
— Clay scott (@scottwestacre) April 7, 2024

From that one post in early April, to the massive following that’s grown since, what’s transpired in that time is even catching this Kansas farmer by surprise.

“I can’t even believe what it is today. It’s hundreds of 1000s of people a day looking at it. It’s in the millions per week,” says Scott.

88,ooo views - who would have guessed https://t.co/OhhhPHFTFu
— Clay scott (@scottwestacre) April 22, 2024

She’s a 5-year-old Red Angus cow that’s quickly become a social media sensation.

“It’s a very large audience right now. A lot of states and a lot of countries chime in from time to time. So, it’s quite the ordeal,” he says.

Scott raises row crops and cattle in southwestern Kansas. He says they’ve been talking about #88’s size on the farm since February, almost sure she would be the first to calve, but now, it looks like she could be one of the last.

“I am concerned about her size and the size of the calf. I don’t want her to struggle because the calf gets too big. So that’s why we’re actually limiting her intake right now to not cause any more trouble than she’s probably already going to have with her size,” says Scott. “I’m hoping for twins, to be honest. If it’s twins, I’ll feel a lot better.”

As the saga surrounding when #88 will calve continues, her following is tuning in to what transpires next. Many of her followers are now even answering questions for Scott, and it’s sparked a conversation between complete strangers that has been yet another surprise.

“I’m getting well over 1,000 comments a day on this. And people ask questions, or they ask the same question that was talked about a couple days before. And folks are starting to fill in those answers,” says Scott. “That’s very helpful to me, because I don’t have the time or really the desire to go through my social media and answer each one.”

#88’

She’s a trooper. We are planning to move everyone tomorrow as we have done about all we can with this three week limited diet. We bring in feed every morning for her group then watch consumption. She has been on a diet to help keep calf from getting larger. Time will tell pic.twitter.com/H7U301R6yX
— Clay scott (@scottwestacre) May 16, 2024

There’s no doubt #88’s following is growing, and Scott’s daily posts are no longer just updates. He’s now using it as a tool to educate those invested in her pregnancy journey.

“When this popularity started, I thought, ‘well, let’s tell them why we’re doing this, or what this band in her ear is, what that represents,’ and why we do things that are just good doctrine of taking care of cattle. We’re trying to fulfill that mission that we need to do a better job in agriculture about telling our story.”

#88’

Changes. We are looking for the signs of labor. A swelling udder or even dripping milk - relaxing in hips and softening on backside. Raised tailhead often portrays labor is soon
Some display this along with tail twitching - lying and standing often

Some display nothing pic.twitter.com/RDhob9sJyE
— Clay scott (@scottwestacre) May 16, 2024

Scott’s biggest challenge may be cramming that message into 280 characters per post, but he says it’s forced him to put more thought and meaning into what he posts each day. And now, sharing #88’s story in a short and concise way, is now sharing agriculture’s story far and wide.

“I thought it would kind of, you know, peak in about two or three days and then kind of go away. I didn’t think there would be the continued investment,” he says.

What Scott is doing in his part of the world is giving a glimpse at raising cattle in such a simple and intriguing way, and it’s now making meaningful connections that extend way beyond ag.

APHIS To Require Electronic Animal ID for Certain Cattle and Bison

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 18:29:58 GMT

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has taken another step toward limiting the impact of an outbreak of foreign animal diseases by amending and strengthening its animal disease traceability regulations for certain cattle and bison. By requiring electronic animal identification for certain cattle and bison, APHIS put into place the technology, tools and processes to help industry stakeholders quickly pinpoint and respond to a foreign animal disease outbreak.

“Rapid traceability in a disease outbreak will not only limit how long farms are quarantined, keep more animals from getting sick, and help ranchers and farmers get back to selling their products more quickly – but will help keep our markets open,” said Dr. Michael Watson, APHIS administrator.

APHIS said one to the rule’s most significant benefits for farmers and ranchers will be the enhanced ability of the United States to limit impacts of animal disease outbreaks to certain regions, which the agency called a “key to maintaining our foreign markets. By being able to readily prove disease-free status in non-affected regions of the United States, we will be able to request foreign trading partners recognize disease-free regions or zones instead of cutting off trade for the entire country. Traceability of animals is necessary to establish these disease-free zones and facilitate reestablishment of foreign and domestic market access with minimum delay in the wake of an animal disease event.”

The April announcement enhances a rule finalized in 2013 for the official identification of livestock and documentation for certain interstate movements of livestock.

The final rule applies to all sexually intact cattle and bison 18 months of age or older, all dairy cattle, cattle and bison of any age used for rodeo or recreation events, and cattle or bison of any age used for shows or exhibitions.

The rule requires official eartags to be visually and electronically readable for official use for interstate movement of certain cattle and bison, and revises and clarifies certain record requirements related to cattle.

“USDA’s final traceability rule updates the existing requirement for animal identification that has been in place since 2013, switching from solely visual tags to tags that are both electronically and visually readable for certain classes of cattle moving interstate,” said National Cattlemen’s Beef Association president Mark Eisele, a Wyoming rancher.

“Many producers are already familiar with using these visual tags and under the new rule, they will instead use electronic tags. NCBA has worked hard to secure $15 million in funding for producers to reduce the cost of implementing this change. We also remain committed to safeguarding producers’ private data and continuing to reduce the cost of ear tags for farmers and ranchers. Our industry faces a tremendous threat from the risk of a future foreign animal disease on American soil. To avoid devastating financial losses during a potential outbreak and to help producers quickly return to commerce, we need an efficient animal disease traceability system.”

USDA said it is committed to implementing a modern animal disease traceability system that tracks animals from birth to slaughter using affordable technology that allows for quick tracing of sick and exposed animals to stop disease spread. USDA will continue to provide tags to producers free of charge to jumpstart efforts to enable the fastest possible response to a foreign animal disease.

To obtain electronic ID tags at no cost, APHIS directs producers to contact their State Veterinarian.

A copy of this rule may be viewed at the APHIS website, and the rule will be published in the Federal Register in the coming weeks. This rule will be effective 180 days after publication in the Federal Register.

To learn more about animal disease traceability and how APHIS responds to animal disease outbreaks, visit www.aphis.usda.gov.

Mistrial Declared in Arizona Rancher’s Murder Trial

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 18:42:44 GMT

An Arizona judge declared a mistrial in the murder case of rancher George Alan Kelly, 75, who was accused of fatally shooting a migrant on his property near the U.S.-Mexico border.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink said the decision was made after jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision after two full days of deliberation.

Following the declaration, Kelly’s defense attorney Kathy Lowthorp revealed outside the courthouse to the media that there had only been one guilty juror in the group, which was why the defense team pushed for deliberations to continue.

“There was one hold out for guilty, the rest were not guilty. So seven not guilty, one guilty,” Lowthorp stated. “We believe in our gut that there was no way the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Kelly had faced second-degree murder in the Jan. 30, 2023, shooting of Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, 48, who lived just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico. Kelly had earlier rejected an agreement with prosecutors that would have reduced the charge to one count of negligent homicide if he pleaded guilty.

“It is what it is, and it will be what it will be. Let me go home, okay? That alright with y’all?” Kelly told reporters outside the courthouse following the mistrial. “I will keep fighting forever. I won’t stop.”

Judge Fink had told jurors that if they could not reach a verdict on the second-degree murder charge, they could try for a unanimous decision on a lesser charge of reckless manslaughter or negligent homicide.

The Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office can still decide whether to retry Kelly for any charge or drop the case all together.

A status hearing was scheduled for next Monday afternoon, when prosecutors could inform the judge if they plan to refile the case.

Related:

Arizona Rancher Rejects Plea Deal in Death of Migrant

Arizona Border Rancher Accused of Killing Migrant, Now Held With $1 Million Bond

John Deere Introduces 326 P-Tier Compact Wheel Loader

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 15:39:03 GMT

John Deere announces the release of its new 326 P-Tier telescopic compact wheel loader. The 326 P-Tier telescopic compact wheel loader offers 16-plus feet of reach from its telescopic lift arm while still being compact enough to work in barns or other tight spaces.

“Operators will enjoy it for the cab visibility, the boom controls and the exclusive Articulation Plus steering system,” said Luke Gribble, John Deere go-to-market manager. “Put it all together, and the 326 P-Tier is a real multitool for the farm or ranch.”

To help guard against overloading, The Load Torque Indicator System gives visual and audible alarms if stability limits are exceeded during lifting, lowering or extension of the lift arm. In addition, a separate indicator warns of potential overload of the tilt cylinder.

“Features like these help make the 326 P-Tier an operator-friendly wheel loader for farmers and ranchers,” Gribble said. “And it is perfect for less-experienced operators.”

Inside the cab, operators will find a comfortable, easy-to-navigate environment. A 9-inch touchscreen display puts key information within easy view, and it shows key data such as warnings, status and machine-positioning information.

Conveniently placed electro-hydraulic controls offer Auto Return-to-Dig, and Auto Lift and Lower functions, and help to reduce cycle times. Optional boom-mounted lights and standard overhead window allow for a clear view to the end of the telescoping arm.

The new compact wheel loader also features a 23-mph top speed to help move quickly between jobs. And for tight turning in barns and other cramped spaces, its Articulation Plus steering system offers a full 30 degrees of articulation plus 10 additional degrees of rear-wheel steering.

To learn more about the new 326 P-Tier telescopic compact wheel loader, visit JohnDeere.com or contact your local John Deere dealer.

Speer: Day-Old Calves Cost How Much…?

Sat, 21 Oct 2023 21:50:58 GMT

“Holy Buckets!”: There’s seemingly always an exclamation of surprise when discussing current prices for day-old beef-X-dairy (BXD) calves with producers. And that’s generally followed with skepticism: “Are you sure?”

But maybe it makes more sense than we think. Let’s approach it from a cow/calf perspective to discern the value of day-old calf at the farm or ranch (versus the dairy).

Cow Cost: The obvious place to begin is allocation of cow costs. Outlined below are some basic assumptions:

The cost meter starts clicking once the previous calf is weaned – call that day 205. Even if the cow was NOT pregnant at weaning, maintenance cost up to weaning would still be assigned to the weaned calf. That leaves us 160 days of pregnancy from weaning to calving assigned to the newborn calf.
Assume annual $1100/cow maintenance cost – or roughly $3/day.

Total assigned cost = $480/calf

Bull Cost: This gets somewhat trickier with more room for varied assumptions. Depending on an operation’s individual budgeting, the cost may be absorbed by the annual cow cost as outlined above. However, given we’re not detailing the full year for the cow, it’s appropriate to include this as a separate item.

Keeping it straightforward, assume a bull’s net service cost is $3,000 over his lifetime (purchase less salvage value). On average (key emphasis), his useful life will be three years. (Some bulls work much longer but others fail to ever service a cow.). Last, we’ll suppose he sires 25 calves per year. That works out to ~$40/calf.
Conservatively assume it costs roughly $1250 annually to maintain a bull – that equates to $50/calf.

Total assigned cost = $90/calf

Interest: The current median interest rate on operating notes is roughly 8.5% . We’ll assign that rate for 160 days on the cow side and a full year on the bull side. That works out to roughly $18 plus $8, respectively.

Total assigned cost = $26/calf

Death Loss: Based on historical USDA survey data , assume 3% of calves will be lost due to dystocia and/or other causes. Another 4% are born alive but die prior to weaning. Assigning one-fourth of those post-calving losses equals 1%. Therefore, we’re left with a 96% survival rate ready for sale. That adds an additional $25/head to the cost.

Total assigned cost = $25/calf

Total Direct Costs: Based on averages, IF someone wanted to purchase day-old calves from your farm or ranch, you’d require total direct cost just to breakeven. We can fuss with the numbers here-and-there but it provides a ball-park figure of the cost assigned to every calf.

Total direct cost: $621/calf

Intangibles: But we need to stretch beyond just those considerations. IF the following things were to occur, you’d require even more dollars to ensure you’re adequately compensated for your management:

Cows bred to known sires with propensity for superior feedlot and carcass performance;
Ensure each calf receives colostrum AND has its navel dipped;
Individually identify every calf with an eID;
Ranch provides ready access to comprehensive data management system enabling potential access to sire and dam (and other pertinent) information to buyer;
Provide easily-accessible facilities to pick calves up with minimal hassle;
Facilitate steady, reliable source of calves year-around.

All of those items provide added value to the buyer. As a producer, you’d accordingly want to be rewarded for such. Not to mention, there needs to be some consideration for profit in all of this.

Total Assigned Cost = +$10, +$25, +$50, +More???

Bottomline: Markets are amazingly efficient. The end result is uncanny; the numbers are remarkably similar to current prices for day-old calves (i.e. sizeable quantity of high-quality, well-managed calves). And from that perspective, the two sides of the business (beef versus dairy) really aren’t all that different. I noted in a previous column that, “What used to be considered a highly discounted after-thought (straight dairy steers/heifers) is rapidly transforming into a meaningful source of production (BXD steers).” With all that in mind, perhaps the day-old BXD market really isn’t as far off-base as we might have first thought.

New Custom Rates For Livestock Services Published

Tue, 01 Aug 2023 20:34:35 GMT

Nebraska cattlemen should expect to pay an average of $9.50 per ton for custom harvesting and hauling of corn silage this fall, according to a new report from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Center for Agricultural Profitability. Harvesting, hauling, filling and packing corn silage was found to have a custom rate of $13.58 per ton.

Current rates for custom services related to livestock production in Nebraska are the result of a statewide survey circulated to custom operators and clients in early 2023. The livestock-specific survey reports rates for 53 custom services based on responses from 91 custom operators and clients.

This is the first such livestock-specific report conducted by the Center for Agricultural Profitability, which is a companion to the biennial Nebraska Farm Custom Rates Survey Report that features more detailed information about custom service rates related to cropping operations and is typically published in even-numbered years.

A webinar covering the new livestock-related report will be held at noon Central Time on Thursday, Aug. 3. Registration is available at go.unl.edu/cap8-3 .

Among the various custom rates, for instance, swathing hay with crushing/crimping saw an average price of $143.50 per hour reported by 12 respondents, with the most common price as $150 per hour. The same task saw an average price of $16.23 per acre by 31 respondents, with the most common price of $15 per acre.

Glennis McClure, Nebraska Extension educator and farm and ranch management analyst, leads the survey and publication efforts for both reports. She noted that information reported in both publications is intended as a guide when calculating what to charge or pay for custom operations and that actual rates may vary from those listed in the survey due to differences in the operators responding and those providing services across the state.

Baling large round bales was quoted at $14.46 per bale without net wrap, according to 12 responses. Baling large round bales with net wrap was quoted at $15.32 per bale by 44 respondents.

The report quoted six respondents with an average price of $105.83 per acre for clearing cedar trees, and the most common price was $125 per acre.

The full report can be found here .