In this episode, two guests weigh in on what's ahead for agriculture in the new year. Redd Summit Advisor's Ross Bronson addresses ways producers can leverage the decline in cattle inventory, and CoBank's Brian Earnest discusses recessionary fears, rising interest rates and more.

U.S. beef production is poised to end 2022 with another record in total output, as January through October federally inspected slaughtered beef hit 23.25 billion pounds – a 1.9% increase over the same 10-month period from 2021’s record production.

The 2022 growing season has been quite variable in many parts of the country.

This year, with the severe drought taking hold in many areas, producers grazing sorghums, sudangrasses and millet varieties were cautious about nitrate and prussic acid toxicity.

The 2022 hay crop has been made. Those marketing and moving it face plenty of challenges.

The most striking factors driving hay markets are related to alfalfa exports, domestic prices for dairy-quality hay and an early start to the supplemental feeding season in drought areas.

Both feedlot inventories and cattle slaughter have remained stubbornly high this year due to drought-forced movement of cattle out of the country. Feedlot production, cattle slaughter and beef production are all expected to decrease sharply in 2023.

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.