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The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) presented Paul Bennett, Red House, Virginia, the BIF Pioneer Award June 9 during the group’s annual research symposium online.

Slaughter numbers approached year-ago levels for the week as beef packers are operating at near-capacity and wholesale beef prices continue lower.

Drought conditions have expanded rapidly in recent weeks and while many regions do not yet face imminent actions, it is not too early to develop drought plans for your ranch.

Cattle harvest is now approaching 660,000 head and with added carcass weights the amount of beef production is growing rapidly.

The National Restaurant Association is asking for help from agriculture to lobby Congress for changes in coronavirus aid legislation.

Cash fed cattle sold steady to higher in all regions and feeder cattle sold higher. Slaughter numbers improved, but carcass weight data revealed an increase of 43 pounds over the 5-year average.

Placements in feedlots during April totaled 1.43 million head, 22 percent below 2019. Placements were the second lowest for April since the series began in 1996.

Overall feed and forage will be favorable and provide more flexibility for feeder and feedlot cattle operations. Potentially emerging drought conditions are a threat and may reduce production and marketing flexibility.

Cash cattle prices traded higher last week, and for the first time in several weeks most of the major beef packing plants should be up and running this week, though not full-throttle.

Consumers are curious about their food. Wayne Morgan, of Golden State Foods, talks about sustainability initiatives and actions the supply chain can take moving forward.