The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced in early February that the U.S. is resuming cattle and bison imports from Mexico.

President Donald Trump signed on Monday a 30-day pause to the implantation of 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada. Trump initiated the plan on Feb. 1 as a way to push for more action by both countries to halt illegal immigration and drug traffic into the U.S.

Although the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) commercial slaughter estimates for the month of December 2024 have not yet published, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has published actual slaughter under federal inspection through the end of the year.

The January Feed Outlook report shows this month’s 2024-25 U.S. coarse grains outlook is for reduced supplies, as a decrease in expected corn output more than offsets gains in sorghum production. A slight bump to Sept. 1 corn stocks does little to offset the cut to production – stemming from slashed yields.

The January World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report (WASDE) showed this month’s 2024-25 U.S. corn outlook is for lower production, feed and residual use, exports and ending stocks.

The federal government narrowly avoided a shutdown in the wee hours of Dec. 21, 2024, when the American Relief Act of 2025 was signed into law by President Joe Biden. Importantly for the agriculture industry, the act also includes a second extension of the 2018 Farm Bill and $2.5 billion in additional aid that will be distributed through the USDA.

The recent discovery of New World screwworm (NWS) in cattle in the Mexican state of Chiapas has resulted in a restriction on the importation of cattle and bison originating from or transiting through Mexico, effective Nov. 22, 2024.

A short-term budget agreement passed by Congress early Saturday morning averted a government shutdown after a chaotic week in the U.S. House. In the process of passing the three-month agreement to continue funding the federal government until March 14, lawmakers also extended the 2018 farm bill for another full year. The agreement also provides more than $110 billion in disaster relief to areas still recovering from hurricanes, wildfires and floods.

Earlier this year, it was expected that the number of cattle on feed would shrink year over year in the second half of 2024, based on smaller inventory levels at the beginning of the year, and that year-over-year higher calf prices would result in retention of heifers, limiting numbers in the feedlot.