Worry — it is an anxious way of thinking. It usually involves thoughts about what bad things might happen in the future and if you can cope with them.
In the beef industry, the list of things producers and stakeholders worry or stress about can be long and exhaustive.
Here’s a list of some of those key stressors keeping producers up at night:
1. Fear of Animal Diseases
Troy Rowan, University of Tennessee assistant professor, summarizes: “As with most folks, I’m concerned about emerging animal diseases like New World screwworm (NWS) and foot-and-mouth disease, and the cascading impacts they could have on the industry.”
Texas beef producer Donnell Brown agrees a top concern on his mind is NWS.
“As temperatures rise this spring and fly season begins again, I am deeply concerned that we could see an outbreak with devastating consequences for livestock and wildlife,” Brown says. “We still lack practical ways to treat or protect wildlife. After the screwworms were eradicated in the 1970s, it was 15 years before I remember seeing deer on our ranch. Today, deer are abundant and hunting has become a major economic driver for ranchers and rural communities. If screwworms cause significant wildlife losses, the ripple effects would be severe.”
Colin Woodall, CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), says the top five thing that keep him up at night are: “Foot-and-mouth disease, foot-and-mouth disease, foot-and-mouth disease, foot-and-mouth disease and foot-and-mouth disease.”
He explains: “We have a lot of good things that are going on, and yes, we spend a lot of time talking about New World screwworm, but we have the tools able to address New World screwworm. Foot-and-mouth disease is still kind of that unknown, and we understand that in working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, they know they have proof that terror groups around the country have access to the foot-and-mouth disease virus, and that a pin full is all they need to be able to come in and absolutely send our market into chaos — our industry into chaos, our food supply into chaos and the economics around all of those into chaos.”
He says that fact is why NCBA spends so much time working with USDA, state associations like KLA and state animal health officials to make sure the industry is prepared in the event we have reintroduction of foot-and-mouth disease.
“We haven’t had it since 1929 but it’s going to come again, and NCBA is spending it just about every waiting moment we can to make sure we’re prepared,” Woodall says.
Ron Lemenager, Purdue University beef specialist, adds, “I worry about when, not if, a disease like foot-and-mouth will be introduced that will cripple our markets and supply chain.”
Lemenager agrees NWS is a concern, but in his part of the country a bigger concern is the Asian Longhorned Tick and Theileria.
Check out these related articles:
Foot And Mouth Disease: Producers Should Be Prepared
The Smell You’ll Never Forget: A Calf Infested with New World Screwworm
Protect Your Livestock: Signs of New World Screwworm
5 Livestock Diseases That Could Impact U.S. Food Security and Economic Stability
Theileria and the Asian Longhorned Tick: What Beef Producers Need to Know
2. Weather Challenges
Kansas beef producer Debbie Lyons-Blythe says there are a number of challenges that worry her family.
“No. 1 is Mother Nature,” she says. “Everything we do day-to-day and long-term is tied to weather. Even the markets are tied to what Mother Nature is doing across the nation.”
Cyndi Van Newkirk of Van Newkirk Herefords agrees weather is a big stressor for her family who are seedstock producers in the Nebraska Sandhills.
Lemenager says with multiple years of short rainfall in a number of different areas he is concerned with drought and that impact on corn, bean and hay prices as well as hay availability.
“The variability in the weather and the marketplace are always concerns to worry about,” he adds.
Cattle producer and extension educator Shad Marston from Canton, Kan., says the possibility of extreme severe weather is what keeps him up at night.
“Two years ago in January, we had a really cold week, right at our beginning of the calving season. We only had three calves on the ground,” he remembers. “The temperatures were well below our normal cold temperatures, and the snow created it hard to even get out of the house. We never lost any cattle or calves, but that week was a challenge. Everything on our ranch froze up — waters, tractor and skid steer. We only had one truck running and it just had a flatbed on it with no bale bed.”
Marston says they had to haul small square bales to the cows from the barn for two days until a neighbor came and loaded round bales on the flatbed to take to the cows.
“We parked on top of the hill and let the bales roll off and down the small hill for the cows to eat and bed down on. A couple of times, we had to tie the bales to a tree to get them off the flat bed. We could not risk getting the truck stuck, because that’s all we had to feed them with, and very few neighbors were able to help if anyone had problems,” he describes. “I remember lying in bed at night wondering if we were going to make it the next day. We could of easily lost some of the cattle. So being prepared is my worst fear and I’ve tried to always have a plan for the worst. Extra feed on hand, fuel additive in equipment and enough supplies on hand to make it if we can’t get to town for a week are lessons we have learned the hard way.”
Check out these related articles:
Ranching Parched Land: Strategies for Drought Resilience
Avoiding The Calfcicle: Calving in Winter Weather
Ranchers Make Tough Decisions to Weather Intense Southwest Drought
Weather Swings Bring Mud and Concerns About Calf Health
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3. The Cattle Market
For South Dakota cattle producer Ken Odde, he says what keeps him up at night is anything that might “crash the market.”
“I am thinking about both fed cattle and feeder cattle markets,” Odde explains. “Foot-and-mouth disease is high on the list for me, and it doesn’t seem to get much attention recently.”
Van Newkirk agrees the markets and overthinking market swings are a concern.
Check out these related articles:
What Does the Bullish Cattle on Feed Report Mean for the Beef Industry in 2026?
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4. Beef Supply and Consumer Demand
“We had the smallest calf crop since 1941,” says Ron Lemenager, Purdue University beef specialist. “Put that with the closure of the Mexico border due to New World screwworm and we have a limited supply. As a producer I like the higher prices, but from a consumer standpoint, at what point are they going to walk away from beef and go to chicken or some other protein source.”
Brown explains supply and demand ultimately govern this market.
“If we lose feedyards and packing capacity, we weaken the demand side of the equation,” he says. “Over time, that reduced demand would place downward pressure on feeder cattle prices, undermining the very producers who are benefiting from today’s high prices.”
Jason Warner, Kansas State University cow-calf extension specialist, says: “In the short term, I am concerned about what could happen to the beef industry if there is a major drop in consumer demand for beef, and the potential ramifications to the cow-calf producer if calf prices substantially drop considering how high cow/heifer prices are right now. I think knowing cow production costs will be important going forward.”
Woodall summarizes consumer sentiment remains the bedrock of the industry’s success.
“As long as the consumer is with us, as long as they are choosing to buy beef, then we have a bright future,” he says.
Woodall credits generations of producers for bolstering herd quality and producing a product people want, not just need, to buy.
Check out these related articles:
Consumer Craze for Protein Drives Beef Demand
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5. Government Interference
Lyons-Blythe says another concern is government interference in market disruptions and environmental regulations.
Woodall adds we need to keep the government out of the cattle market.
“We want to be able to grow this industry,” Woodall says. “As producers, one of the best things you can do is call your member of Congress, call your two senators, and tell them to be advocates for us. We don’t need new programs. We don’t need a return of things like mandatory country of origin labeling. We simply need the government to stay out of the marketplace.”
Check out these related articles:
Did the Administration’s Plan to Lower Beef Prices Wreck the Bull Run in the Cattle Market?
Beef Producers React to USDA’s Plan to Fortify Industry and Trump’s Social Media Comments
USDA Has No Plans for Financial Incentives to Rebuild Cattle Herd
Other Industry Challenges
“One other thing that concerns me is the closing of some of our packing plants,” Lemenager says. “While I understand they need a steady supply of cattle to cover their overhead costs, but will they ramp back up when cattle numbers return?”
Lyons-Blythe says a local concern is the invasion of the cedar tree into the Flint Hills.
“I think in the last 30 years, we have seen such a tremendous encroachment and a lot of the prairie lost due to the cedar tree,” she explains.
Rowan, a beef cattle geneticist adds: “From a genetics perspective, I’m constantly thinking about how we will deal with the antagonisms between growth and carcass weight and grazing cow efficiency.”
Van Newkirk explains family dynamics is another challenge multi-generational beef producers face.
Check out these related articles:
Shrinking Slaughter Capacity: What’s Next in 2026?
Prescribed Burns: Keeping the Prairie Alive; Preventing Wildfires
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Impacts of Heavier Carcass Weights
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Lyons-Blythe says when asking her sons what keeps them up at night their response is the upcoming calving season.
“It not only keeps them up, but it gets them up as they check heifers all night and day,” she says.
Don’t worry, we’ll tackle that challenge next week with our calving preparation blitz week on Drovers.com.
