The November World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report (WASDE) showed this month’s 2025-26 U.S. corn outlook is for increases in supply, exports and ending stocks. Total supply is 144 million bushels higher as larger beginning stocks are partially offset by lower production.

The Progressive Cattle editorial staff cover the top news stories from 2025.

Negotiations on U.S.-China trade relations have taken a step forward by ending China’s retaliatory tariffs imposed on U.S. exports since March of 2025, reopening Chinese markets to U.S. ag products including beef and soybeans.

A growing number of Republican senators jumped into the fray assailing President Donald Trump’s plan to import beef from Argentina, expressing similar concerns to cattlemen groups that the plan interferes with market dynamics now favoring beef producers.

Starting in late July and throughout August, weekly cattle slaughter slowed seasonally but to levels that were the lowest since 2015. Adjusting for one fewer slaughter days in 2025, August saw a 10% decline in cattle slaughter, the largest year-over-year decline for any month in 2025.

The September World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report (WASDE) showed this month’s 2025-26 U.S. corn outlook is for greater supplies, larger exports and a slight reduction in ending stocks. Projected beginning stocks for 2025-26 are 20 million bushels higher based on a lower use forecast for 2024-25, with reductions in imports and corn used for ethanol partially offset by an increase in exports. 

U.S. beef exports have faced considerable headwinds in 2025, largely in the form of high tariff rates and the ensuing trade policy fallout in key markets for U.S. beef, especially in China.

On July 25, the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released its biannual Cattle report. The previous July edition of the report was released in 2023, as the July Cattle report was not conducted in 2024. According to the report, on July 1, 2025, all cattle and calves were estimated at 94.2 million head, down 1.2 million head, or 1.3%, from July 1, 2023.

The August World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report (WASDE) showed this month’s 2025-26 U.S. corn outlook is for sharply higher supplies, greater domestic use and exports, and larger ending stocks. Projected beginning stocks for 2025-26 are 35 million bushels lower based on a slightly higher use forecast for 2024-25.