Latest News From Ag Policy

The midsized cow-calf operation hasn't grown in the past five years still standing at 110 cows, a sign that consolidation hasn't impacted much of the beef industry.

Popular furors that ignore science – and even simple logic – places science-deniers at their own peril. So it is with critics of beef production.

AgDay's Clinton Griffiths sits down in a one-on-one interview with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.

Wherever you get your news, you likely couldn’t avoid hearing a particular T word last week: tariffs.

For the first time since 2012 Canada's cattle inventory has increased.

Ryan Bundy, who was at the forefront of two armed confrontations between right-wing militia activists and the U.S. government, said he plans to run for Nevada governor on a states’ rights platform.

Exports to South Korea, which reached a record $1.2 billion in 2017, increased 13 percent from a year ago to 17,133 mt, while export value soared 34 percent to $122.3 million.

USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom discusses the Middle Eastern markets that hold strong potential for U.S. beef.

Cattle and beef prices in 2017 were much stronger than anticipated. One of the reasons for price strength was international trade.

January placements up 4.4% versus a year ago, while Feb. 1 feedlot cattle at 107.9% of year ago.

Lawsuit challenges authority to implement “Operation Drawbridge” on private property outside a 25-mile border zone.

Cattle on feed numbers increased 8% during January.

Holding our ground and protecting our export position is vital in the two years ahead as our fed cattle supplies grow to the cycle peak and competing U.S. protein supplies become record large.

Beef cow numbers were estimated to have grown by 1.6% from 2017, which is a little less than half the increase that was seen in the prior year.

The U.S. livestock industry is realizing that animal ID might soon become a necessary part of doing business. 

The beef industry is watching the popularity of alternative proteins of plant-based and meatless burgers. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) even added fake meat to its policy agenda.

The spending bill signed into law early Friday morning includes several beneficial changes for agriculture.

Through the disaster relief package, which is part of the Senate’s spending bill, two significant changes were made to the livestock indemnity program.

Beef production will continue to rise despite a slower space in cow herd expansion.

Brazil’s government has won a court decision allowing the export of live cattle, overturning an injunction obtained by an animal rights group, the Agriculture Ministry said on Monday.

Uncertainty in trade agreements have four of the five top beef markets in jeopardy.

Jim O'Haco accepts his ranching operation's national recognition as winner of the 2017 Environmental Stewardship Award Program.

President Trump made no definitive statement on NAFTA renegotiations, but recent positive feedback is making farmers hopeful for a quick resolution.

Beef purchasing decisions have become less sensitive to retail beef prices, but the industry must focus on beef quality aspects of taste, appearance, convenience and freshness.

An independent survey of beef producers found 74 percent continue to approve of the Beef Checkoff Program.

Cattle herd expansion continued in 2017, although at a much slower pace than 2016.

Critics say the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's plan to restore the Mexican wolf in Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico by 2043, is flawed and are suing to reverse the plan.

Ag groups are trying to strong-arm the Senate into confirming Gregg Doud as chief agricultural negotiator.

Cattle on feed in feedlots with more than 1,000 head capacity totaled 11.5 million head, 8% higher than last year.

U.S. cattlemen fear the U.S. backing out of the Trans Pacific Partnership was a "missed opportunity" to gain access to foreign markets.

There is much interest in the market potential for U.S. beef in China since access was achieved in 2017. 

The United States reclaimed its spot as the top beef exporter to South Korea in 2017, 14 years after a U.S. outbreak of mad cow disease led to a ban on American beef and handed market leadership to rival Australia.

Maintaining a resurgent global trade environment is vital for all of agriculture, and more specifically to this readership, the preservation of current and potential beef export markets.

Brazilian officials expect to resume fresh beef exports to the United States in early 2018.

2017 will be remembered as one of the most destructive and costliest years for natural disasters in history.

For the first time in more than six years the cattle on feed inventory increased by 8% from the previous year.

Nine months have passed since wildfires charred parts of the central and southern Plains during a three-day span of furious fire.  Now, a proposed disaster relief package may offer more help to ranchers in need. The House recently unveiled a disaster aid plan to help cover some of the cost of hurricanes and wildfires the country faced in 2017.  House Republicans are releasing an $81 billion disaster aid package, funding that’s nearly twice the request the White House made.  The money could be split between a host of federal agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Agriculture. AgDay national reporter Betsy Jibben looks at how producers in Kansas and Oklahoma are recovering and still rebuilding.  She talks with Dr. Randall Spare, a veterinarian from the Ashland Veterinary Center, and producers Jenny Betschart in Ashland, Kansas and Bernie Smith in Beaver County, Oklahoma.

Could dinner talk help bust through a NAFTA impasse?

Billions in breaks for energy sought in ‘tax extenders’ bill.

March 6, 2017 is a day Beaver County, Okla., rancher and volunteer fire chief Bernie Smith will always remember. That day wildfires tore through the central and southern Plains. Nearly 2 million acres across four states were scorched by fast moving fires that month. AgDay national reporter Betsy Jibben and national videographer Russ Hnatusko report over Smith’s recollection of the fire, his future and why he’s thankful this Thanksgiving.

Colin Woodall of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association says the threat of the Trump Administration withdrawing from NAFTA and KORUS is very real on today's AgriTalk.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled in favor of the U.S. today in a dispute with Indonesia over its complex and opaque import requirements for beef and beef products.

U.S. Is Said to Propose Freezing Mexican Trucks Out of New Nafta

Rural Americans voted for him, but he didn’t return the favor when it came to an Obama rule meant to level the playing field.

A court room challenge to “waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) rules look like they will be head to federal district court after a hearing held by the Supreme Court of the U.S.

Workable free trade relationships are critical to U.S. cattle producers.

American Beef Shipments to Japan Bypass Tariff Roadblock

Get your day started with a brief rundown of key news.

Grass-fed beef is not as environmentally-friendly as some proponents claim. That’s the conclusion of a new study from U.K.-based Food Climate Research Network (FCRN).

The U.S. Department of Treasury withdraws proposed restrictions on estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax.