Latest News From Ag Policy

America’s food producers, who help keep the country’s supermarkets well supplied, rely on grazing rights, whose fees are a tax paid by the individual ranchers. They are not a government subsidy.

Yesterday, Jack Field, cattle rancher and Washington Cattlemen’s Association executive vice president, testified before the House of Representatives Small Business Committee to discuss the overregulation and impeding impacts of the rule for rural America.

Lately, however, Americans are paying the most ever for beef amid shrinking cattle herds, and that may set the stage for lean, finely textured beef to make a comeback.

Beef producers from four Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) member countries have again demanded that any TPP agreement be a high quality deal that eliminates all tariffs on beef.

The Sage Grouse Protection and Conservation Act, will allow for the protection of Sage Grouse habitat while balancing the needs of western citizens and their economies.

Corbitt Wall gives the weekly USDA Feeder and Cattle Summary for the week ending May 23.

Federal food safety officials say ground beef recalled by a Detroit business may have been sent to stores in 10 states.

Fifty years ago Congress approved legislation that began the transfer of a Naval Ammunition Depot to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, thus creating the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center at Clay Center, Neb.

Mexico expands imports as Vilsack joins Mexico's Secretary of Agriculture and Canada's Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food in Mexico City.

Corbitt Wall with USDA Market News gives the weekly feeder and stocker cattle summary for the week ending May 16.

Selecting the right USDA grade of beef for your dish will help guarantee culinary success.

Cattlemen in North and South Dakota have been busy apply for federal aid that is helping cover losses from last fall's blizzard.

“NCBA is extremely disappointed this final audit report was not released in time for a full review, prior to the comment deadline on the proposed rule,” said Bob McCan, NCBA president and Victoria, Texas cattleman.

Corbitt Wall with USDA Market News gives the weekly Feeder and Stocker Cattle Summary for the week ending May 2.

U.S. feedlots unexpectedly bought 4.7 percent fewer cattle in March than a year earlier, as herds declined in Texas, Oklahoma and Washington state, a government report showed.

Farmers and brewers are still waiting to hear a final ruling from the FDA on the use of spent grains in cattle rations.

As cattlemen continue to wrestle over mandatory country of origin labeling, an end might be in sight

The federal government is backing off proposed regulations that brewers say would add to their costs without improving the safety of grain used to feed livestock.

USDA scientists have found that one reason why some beef cows may not be getting pregnant is they have fragments of male Y chromosome in their DNA.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback signed into law last week a bill (SB 265) containing tax provisions important to the state’s livestock industry.

Sen. Charles Schumer will be at a western New York brewery to call on the federal government to drop a proposal that has the nation's craft beer brewers up in arms.

Corbitt Wall with USDA gives the weekly Feeder and Stocker Cattle Summary for the week ending April 18.

Northwest beer brewers have joined a national outcry over a proposed rule from the Food and Drug Administration which they say would make it prohibitively expensive for them to recycle spent grain by providing it to dairy farmers.

More than 60 U.S. agricultural organizations focusing on expanding exports – including the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) – were awarded funds by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).

Country of origin labeling (COOL) has been vilified for quite some time; an end might be in sight.

Ranchers in the Dakotas are starting to sign up for federal disaster aid to help them recover after an early October blizzard killed tens of thousands of animals, and government officials say they are ready.

Corbitt Wall with USDA Market News gives the Weekly Feeder and Stocker Weekly Summary for the week ending April 11.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is hosting livestock disaster program gatherings next week for South Dakota producers in Hermosa, Eagle Butte, Union Center and Interior.

Corbitt Wall gives the USDA Feeder and Stocker Cattle Summary for the week ending April 4.

Breweries in Nebraska say a federal proposal would force them to stop giving spent grains to local farmers to use as cattle feed.

It will last through Sept. 1, 2014, or until a a new MPP program is operating.

Federal officials have approved a Northern California company's plans to take over a shuttered slaughterhouse that was at the center of a major beef recall.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corp of Engineers (Corps) proposed an expansion of their federal authority over “waters of the United States.”

The administrator of the agency that oversees federal farm programs, such as disaster aid after severe weather, is urging farmers and ranchers who plan to participate to register early.

Feedyards aggressively placed cattle on feed last month, with 1.65 million new arrivals during February, according to USDA.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has renewed and expanded a partnership to provide expert advice to farmers and ranchers to help protect the habitat of the lesser prairie chicken.

Corbitt Wall gave the Weekly National Feeder Cattle Summary report for the week ending March 21.

The Colorado Legislature on Friday once again delayed a vote on a bill aimed at preventing agricultural fires from starting wildfires.

While U.S. beef cow numbers declined, beef cows in North Dakota increased to 943,000, which is up by 21,000 head as of Jan. 1, 2014.

Corbitt Wall gave the weekly USDA National Feeder Cattle Summary for the week ending March 14.

The Public Lands Council and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association hail the passage of the Water Rights Protection Act (WRPA), H.R. 3189, by the U.S. House of Representatives by a 238 to 174 vote.

Farm bill may provide producers with compensation for some livestock losses.

Last week, legislation was introduced to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from disclosing the private and confidential information of livestock and poultry producers to the public.

Doing so to help ranchers benefit from new farm bill safety net.

Corbitt Wall gives the Feeder and Stocker Cattle summary for the week ending February 28.

U.S. trade policy, the new farm bill, and domestic and global economic conditions were much discussed topics at the 2013 Range Beef Cow Symposium.

Fewer cattle on feed numbers imply lower fed cattle slaughter and beef production ahead.

Arkansas’ cattle numbers recovering nearly two years after the start of a drought that caused $128 million damage to the state’s beef industry, while national numbers plummet to their lowest levels in more than 60 years.

USDA’s annual cattle inventory report confirmed what the industry had been suspecting for the past year — another year of contraction.

Corbitt Wall gave the weekly USDA Feeder and Stocker Cattle summary for the week ending Feb. 21.