Aside from needing the USDA to step in and prohibit these chemist producers from calling their newly designed product “meat,” and absent from some drastic change in people’s taste, the threat to beef producers from this new plant-based fake meat should be mostly negligible.

The USDA reported Sept. 1 feedlot inventories at 10.98 million head, down 1.3% from one year ago. This is the first year-over-year decrease in monthly cattle on feed totals in 33 months, since December 2016.

Montana-based news outlet Western Ag Reporter (WAR) launched a week-long Twitter campaign Sept. 23, urging producers to take to social media in an effort to enlist President Trump’s aid in bringing balance back to the cattle markets. 

In July, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the midyear cattle report, which provided a snapshot of U.S. cattle inventory as well as a glimpse into cow and calf producers’ intentions for retaining heifers.

Speaking as one who has not yet tried the Impossible Whopper, and who doesn’t plan on it anytime soon, I’ll be so bold to say the alternative beef industry needs to up its game.

The Aug. 9 fire at the Tyson Foods beef processing plant in Holcomb, Kansas, added unwelcome pressure to an already strained balance between processing capacity and fed cattle supply, and sparked unrest in the cattle markets and concern about beef prices.

The commercial cow is the unsung hero of the beef industry. In a wide range of environments, she has the task of breeding, calving, nursing and rebreeding in a timely manner.

Historically, corn and corn dried distillers grains (DDGs) are priced at seasonal lows during the fall months. Due to their unique nutrient profile, DDGs are a good source of both protein and energy.

Genetic technologies available for the beef industry are being developed and improving at a dramatic pace. Parentage testing is one of these genetic tests that has been around for a while and traditionally been used to determine which bull sired which calves.