NEWS

The 2019 beef production forecast was reduced by 5 million pounds from the previous month but remains at a rounded 26.9 billion pounds. The reduction was based on a slower-than-expected pace of fed cattle slaughter that was partially offset by greater expected cow slaughter and slightly higher expected cattle dressed weights.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana) recently introduced a resolution to reinstate country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for beef and pork. COOL labeling was repealed for beef and pork in 2015 and has since been a topic of interest for American producers.

A new federal database listing drug and alcohol violations by long-haul truck drivers won’t likely impact most individual cattle producers moving animals to market, but producers and owner-operators transporting larger volumes of cattle and other ag commodities longer distances could be affected.

The Holcomb, Kansas, packing plant fire has certainly been a black swan event – rare, unpredictable and has had dramatic effects on the cattle industry.

Cattle producers have a long way to go before agreeing on the issue of a national traceability program using RFID tags.