In this episode, Paul visits with Dave Nichols, an emeritus professor at Kansas State University about his experiences as a livestock judge and educator, discussing opportunities to bridge the gap between agriculture and consumers. David also visits with K-State ag economist Ted Schroeder about the changing elements in the cattle markets, and the potential pitfalls of mandating cash cattle markets. David, Paul and Carrie also share a preview of the November issue, and share what they're grateful for this Thanksgiving season.

USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service recently released the latest Livestock and Poultry: World Markets and Trade report. The report provides estimates for production, consumption and trade for beef, pork and chicken for major countries. The article focuses on the Mexican beef and cattle industry.

The year kicked off with a cattle inventory estimated to be down 2%, thanks to a 2021 calf crop down 2.3% from the previous year, due largely to the pressures brought on by drought and high input costs for feed, fuel, fertilizer and labor. This Market Intel provides farmers and ranchers with a snapshot of what is happening to the U.S. cattle herd as we head toward the finish line of 2022.

Drought and pasture conditions have improved from the previous month, but the situation is still very poor compared to last year and previous years. 

Year-to-date U.S. cattle imports total 951,910 head, down 6.3% year over year. Total cattle exports thus far in 2022 are 192,415 head, down 36.7% from the record cattle export total last year.

The U.S. beef export market has shown that it will continue to expand, even if export access is lost to key countries.

On July 22, the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the midyear Cattle report. It provided a snapshot of the U.S. cattle herd, which includes both beef and dairy cattle as well as a glimpse into producers’ outlook for retaining heifers and the availability of cattle for placement in the coming year.

At the close of the year’s second quarter, beef cattle producers continue to cull a large portion of their breeding herds, as shown in Figure 1 of weekly volumes of federally inspected beef cow slaughter for the previous three years.