John Nalivka

John Nalivka is the president of Sterling Marketing, Inc., which provides economic research and market advisory services to the livestock and meat industries. He became affiliated with Sterling in 1991 as executive vice president and he has owned the company since 1994. Nalivka serves clients across the red meat supply chain from producers to end-users.

Latest Stories
When it comes to feeder cattle prices, 2014 was a year to remember. What if we apply those prices to today’s cattle feeding scenario? How would margins fair?
On May 26th USDA announced three initiatives as the first of a “suite of major actions under the Biden Administration to create fairer marketplaces for poultry, livestock, and hog producers.”
Beef prices have been notably higher this year and demand will remain key as supplies tighten into 2023 with consumers continuing to face ramped inflation.
Rather than running to the politicians to solve a problem, perhaps the better strategy might be to gather a plan to create a better understanding of the economics of the industry.
Through the week ending March 26th, beef cow slaughter year-to-date is 16% higher than a year earlier and the highest since 1986, and we’re on pace to slaughter 12.3% of the cowherd.
While inflation has become a focus of many recent news reports, there is much confusion about how inflation affects farm and ranch income.
Inflation has hit consumers hard and drawn the attention of the national media. With increasing media attention on climate change, do activists see inflation as a way to encourage Americans to reduce beef consumption?
Cattle prices are improving in all regions as cattle numbers have declined. Expansion and continuation of the current drought could cut cattle numbers even further and produce higher cattle prices.
While markets are one component of the cattle cycle, the critical factor driving the cattle cycle and the cow-calf sector of the cattle industry is forage.
Production efficiency is key to sustainability including profitability, both at the ranch and for the industry as a whole, but that production efficiency doesn’t end at the ranch gate.