Opinion
Consumer research funded by the Beef Checkoff helps provide data that enables communications with specific messages encouraging the purchase of beef.
The U.S. lamb market functioned properly until the early 1990s as domestic production was clearly responsive to changes in domestic demand, argues the R-CALF CEO.
Why are we losing cattle producers and cattle in the face of all the positive economic factors, asks the R-CALF CEO?
Genetic progress has led to a significant increase in the number of carcasses grading high Choice and Prime over the past decade. It is not a matter of luck, but the result of hard work and dedication.
Beef is winning, and camera grading in packing plants is helping ensure the quality and consistency specific brands require is being met. That, in turn, is helping beef gain market share.
An incessant focus on imports and haste to declare the beef industry’s demise has protectionists leaning on the sheep industry as a business case study. With all due respect to sheep producers, the analogy isn’t close.
Most international trade is imperfect, Bill Bullard says, and can be both beneficial and detrimental to the wellbeing of our U.S. cattle and sheep industries.
Making a case for changes to USDA’s Cattle on Feed surveys that could improve accuracy and help reduce industry price volatility.
The use of camera grading in America’s beef plants has improved the accuracy, precision and consistency of grading from plant to plant and from lot to lot of cattle, regardless of where they were harvested.
Can tariffs and accompanying quotas provide benefits to an industry? RCALF CEO Bill Bullard says tariffs are a unique economic tool that can be targeted at specific industries and specific commodities.
When you run into people every day, do you really “see” them? Lately I’ve been thinking about the people in my life who truly “see” me – who aren’t too busy or preoccupied to notice how I am really doing.
Claims of dramatic changes to the cattle industry in the Pacific Northwest due to large numbers of imported cattle are compelling, but a little digging into the data finds no support for such assertions.
The race towards expansion of the cow herd isn’t likely to start in 2024. That holds some important implications as the industry shuffles around for supply in the years to come.
In a sixth column on international trade, Speer notes that U.S. founders were pragmatists, not protectionists. Their overarching philosophy was bent towards free trade.
Soon after the 2005 U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement, the sheep industry became the first American livestock industry to be outsourced, claims Bill Bullard, in a response to Drovers’ contributing editor Nevil Speer.
When you become a livestock “show mom,” rest assured you’re going to experience your fair share of teachable moments. Here are five reasons why show moms deserve a little extra celebration.
Record prices bring consumer demand to the forefront, particularly in an inflationary economy where consumers are financially pinched and we must remember demand includes both the willingness and the ABILITY to buy.
When it comes to trade – especially for the beef industry - if you’re hearing a tariff siren, it’s likely a false alarm. Tariffs are a solution in search of a problem.
Beef cow numbers were displaced in the Pacific Northwest by cattle imports into the region, claims R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard, in a response to a column by Drovers’ contributing editor Nevil Speer.
Here’s a summary of the animal ID rules affecting some cattle and bison following last month’s announcement that APHIS would issue its final amendment to an already existing rule.
Protectionist measures often set into motion retaliatory measures that can be unpredictable. When that happens the fallout can be felt by all sorts of independent businesses and their employees in rural America.
The Bureau of Land Management will soon implement a new rule to identify areas of public lands that need restoration and develop a strategy accordingly. What could go wrong?
A third column grappling with some of the baffling claims regarding international trade. The focus here is specifically on the noise surrounding the imports of live cattle.
Industry trade associations have “downplayed the impact imported cattle and beef have on the U.S. cattle industry,” claims R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard, in a response to a column by Drovers’ contributing editor Nevil Speer.
Do America’s trade policies push ranchers out of business? That’s a protectionist’s view, but there’s no evidence suggesting ranchers “displaced” by beef imports – nor being unduly damaged in the marketplace.
USDA reports are not an exact science of data collection and should not be treated as such. We have to take the information from all reports, reported and/or surveyed, and use it accordingly in our analysis.
There’s a lot of rhetoric surrounding beef trade that we shouldn’t accept at face value. A closer look at the data shows America’s ranchers are the direct beneficiaries of international trade.
Successful ranchers understand the importance of matching their cow herd to the resources available on their ranch and in their environment.
Does more negotiated cash cattle trading benefit feeders or packers? An evaluation of packer gross margin provides some perspective.
Does an increasing negotiated cash cattle trade lead to higher overall prices? Here’s what the data reveal about this most tenuous topic.