CattleFax CEO Randy Blach, joined by analysts Kevin Good and Mike Murphy, shared their projections and takeaways for the cattle, grain and energy markets in the coming year with ranchers attending the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Cattle Industry Convention in Houston. CattleFax meteorologist Matt Makens also presented a global weather outlook, with some insights closer to home.

Beef exports continued on a record pace in the latest data for November. Total beef exports were up 8.1% in November and are up 18.5% year over year for the first 11 months of the year.

In the latest livestock trade data, August beef exports were up 21.3% year over year, with year-to-date total beef exports also up 21% from 2020. Beef exports in the month of August were an all-time record for any month.

The Brazilian agriculture ministry recently confirmed two cases of “atypical” bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

The week of Sept. 6, the Brazilian government announced the discovery of several atypical cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly referred to as mad cow disease.

U.S. beef trade is stabilizing as the ripple effects of the initial COVID-19 disruptions continue to fade. The latest beef trade data for November shows that monthly exports were up 13.2% year over year.

Time is running out for lawmakers wanting to see the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ratified in 2019. Several barriers stand in the way of the USMCA successfully being ratified, a big one being Democrat concerns about the labor conditions and environmental and enforcement provisions of the USMCA.