It wasn’t the kind of cake U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists were expecting to find while examining leftover baggage at Washington Dulles International Airport last month.

Many independent feeders are finding themselves fighting the same issues this year as they faced last year, yet feed costs are more than double what the were last year.

With the increased costs of beef production (especially feed and fertilizer) technologies that improve the efficiency of production are increasingly valuable.

The northern Plains has experienced severe drought since 2020, with alfalfa plants stressed due to a shortage of water. The lack of snow cover and temperatures below 0 F in February likely caused alfalfa winter-kill.

The cyclical expansion in cattle numbers from 2014 to 2019 has now pushed cattle slaughter beyond packing industry capacity. It is estimated that annual average slaughter has exceeded capacity since 2016.

By the time a rancher recognizes they have a “trich” problem, significant economic loss has already occurred. An effective way to prevent loss is to implement biosecurity measures to prevent disease introduction.