October beef exports totaled 108,017 metric tons (MT), an 8% decline from last year's large volume, while export value ($649.1 million) was down 11%. Through the first 10 months of 2019, beef exports were down 2.5% in volume (1.1 million MT) and value ($6.75 billion) from last year's record pace.

Ranchers show confidence that 100% animal-based meat will continue to be in high demand in the market. 

The latest USDA Cattle on Feed report pegs Nov. 1 feedlot inventories at 11.83 million head in feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 head or more. This is 101.2% of last year and up 4.8% from October as feedlot inventories increase to a seasonal peak.

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is the number one cause of feedlot cattle death in North America and represents more than 70% of all feedlot death and sickness. BRD is the single largest source of morbidity and mortality in feedlots, causing an estimated $2 billion to $3 billion in losses annually.

On Nov. 21, 2019, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published a study on livestock mandatory reporting (LMR) negotiated slaughter cattle market reporting.

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will mail letters with survey codes this December to more than 22,000 U.S. producers involved in certified or transitioning to certified organic farming for the 2019 Organic Survey.

Growing up, my mom was infamous for having totes and totes of Christmas decorations nestled in our crawlspace. It drove my dad bonkers.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana) recently introduced a resolution to reinstate country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for beef and pork. COOL labeling was repealed for beef and pork in 2015 and has since been a topic of interest for American producers.

The 2019 beef production forecast was reduced by 5 million pounds from the previous month but remains at a rounded 26.9 billion pounds. The reduction was based on a slower-than-expected pace of fed cattle slaughter that was partially offset by greater expected cow slaughter and slightly higher expected cattle dressed weights.