Hogs - General

Red Meat Exports Add Over $3 Billion in Value to U.S. Corn and Soybeans in 2025

Fri, 15 May 2026 20:05:41 GMT

U.S. red meat exports emerged as a multi-billion dollar engine for domestic grain producers in 2025, adding more than $3 billion in combined market value to corn and soybean crops. According to a new study by the Juday Group and the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), the global demand for American beef and pork accounted for over 600 million bushels of grain usage, effectively boosting the price of corn by $0.58 per bushel and soybeans by $1.05 per bushel.

“Red meat exports bring significant value to corn and soybean producers by driving demand for feed,” says USMEF Chair-Elect Dave Bruntz, who raises corn, soybeans and cattle in south-central Nebraska. “This study shows that red meat exports accounted for more than 500 million bushels of corn usage and nearly 100 million bushels of soybeans in 2025.”

From a national perspective, U.S. beef and pork exports accounted for $2.18 billion in market value to corn producers in 2025, $1 billion to soybean producers and $375 million to distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), according to the study. U.S. beef and pork exports contributed an estimated total economic impact of 13.5% per bushel to the value of corn and 10.3% per bushel to soybeans in 2025.

“We initiate this study every year because it quantifies the value that beef and pork exports bring to the red meat supply chain. This added value is why a diverse range of ag industry sectors work together through USMEF to build global demand for U.S. red meat,” says USMEF Senior Vice President John Hinners.

Key findings from the study, which utilized 2025 statistics provided by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service and data compiled by the Juday Group, include:

Exporting corn through U.S. beef and pork

Beef and pork exports accounted for 508.4 million bushels of U.S. corn usage, which equated to a market value of $2.18 billion (at an average 2025 corn price of $4.29 per bushel).
Beef and pork exports accounted for 2.68 million tons of DDGS usage, equating to $374.7 million (at an average price of $139.82 per ton in 2025).
Beef and pork exports contributed an estimated total economic impact of 13.5%, or $0.58, of bushel value at an average price of $4.29 per bushel in 2025.

Exporting soybeans through U.S. pork

Pork exports accounted for 98.8 million bushels of U.S. soybean usage, which equated to a market value of $1 billion (at an average price of $10.17 per bushel in 2025).
Pork exports contributed an estimated total economic impact of 10.3% of bushel value, or $1.05, at an average price of $10.17 per bushel in 2025.

Experts Warn Livestock Feed Additive Can Cause Fatal Heart Risks to Dogs

Thu, 07 May 2026 13:27:36 GMT

Ractopamine, a livestock feed additive commonly used to promote growth in cattle, swine and poultry, may pose a serious risk to dogs, say researchers at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS).

Researchers report two cases of dogs treated at the Texas A&M Small Animal Teaching Hospital that consumed ractopamine. This had not previously been described in the veterinary literature as a natural exposure in dogs.

While both dogs experienced similar clinical signs, their outcomes differed significantly, highlighting the importance of early recognition and treatment.

In one case, the dog’s owners realized their dog had consumed the feed additive and quickly induced vomiting shortly after ingestion. The dog later required hospitalization for cardiac monitoring and supportive care but ultimately recovered and returned to a normal life, the researchers say.

However, the second dog was found in critical condition after an unknown period of exposure on a rural property. Without early treatment, the dog developed severe cardiac complications and died despite intensive treatment.

“Because this resulted from exposure to a common feed additive, one of the most important things, for us, is getting this information into the literature so it becomes something veterinarians can recognize and act on,” says Sophie Tippit, a VMBS DVM candidate.

The findings highlight the importance of keeping livestock additives out of reach of dogs to limit the possibility of accidental ingestion.

“Many owners don’t realize that these types of feed additives can be harmful to their companion animals,” Tippit adds.

Ractopamine Exposure

When the dogs were brought in, both were experiencing significant cardiovascular effects, including abnormal heart rhythms and elevated cardiac troponin levels, a blood marker that indicates damage to the heart muscle.

“These cases show us that this particular drug overstimulates the body’s fight-or-flight system, essentially putting the heart into overdrive,” says Dr. Sonya Wesselowski, associate professor of cardiology in VMBS’ Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences. “When that happens excessively, it can cause direct damage to the heart muscle cells and trigger dangerous arrhythmias.”

The cases also exposed an important clinical consideration that standard treatments for certain heart rhythm disturbances were not effective in these patients.

“Typically, when we see ventricular arrhythmias, we reach for drugs like lidocaine first,” Tippit says. “But because of how ractopamine works, it wasn’t effective. Once we understood the mechanism, using beta blockers made much more sense and was more successful.”

Protect Your Farm and Ranch Dogs

Because these exposures can happen unintentionally, prevention is especially important for pet owners, the report notes.

“Wherever these products are stored, they need to be kept inaccessible to dogs,” Wesselowski says. “If there’s any concern about exposure, seeking veterinary care quickly can make a critical difference.”

Natural exposure to ractopamine in dogs had not previously been documented. If your dog experiences a possible toxin exposure on a farm or a ranch, this is something to consider, says Wesselowski.

“Veterinarians should consider ractopamine exposure in cases involving unexplained arrhythmias and initiate treatment quickly, including decontamination and cardiac monitoring,” Wesselowski points out.

From Defense to Offense: A New Rulebook for Livestock Emissions

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 19:30:40 GMT

For years, livestock producers have been characterized by global emission averages that often fail to account for the efficiencies of modern U.S. production. A new report released by The Meat Institute entitled, “Greenhouse Gas Accounting: Emissions Factors Brief,” provides the “rulebook” for producers to prove their actual footprint rather than being defined by generic estimates.

The report offers a closer and comprehensive look at how companies across the animal agriculture supply chain are measuring and reporting upstream greenhouse gas emissions. It’s a core component of the industry’s commitment to the Protein PACT, aiming for transparent and continuous improvement in sustainability.

“This report is intended as a practical resource for companies throughout the meat and poultry supply chain to better understand how emissions data are developed, to ask clearer questions of data providers, and to build strategies that reflect their operational realities,” says Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts. “The report also outlines current knowledge gaps and points to where practical guidance and coordination could help improve alignment throughout the supply chain.”

The brief focuses on the Scope 3 emission factors (indirect emissions occurring in the supply chain) used for beef, pork and poultry, and highlights areas where approaches differ across data sources, system boundaries and calculation methods.

Key Takeaways

• Standardization of Metrics

Using uniform emission factors across the sector is needed in animal agriculture. This ensures that sustainability data is consistent, comparable and credible for stakeholders and consumers. Reported emission factor values span a wide range across proteins, often due to differences in functional units, geographic assumptions, and whether impacts such as land use change are included or reported separately.

• Transition to Primary Data

The Meat Institute encourages moving away from generic global averages in favor of high-quality, peer-reviewed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data that reflects specific regional and production practices.

• Alignment with Global Standards

Global statistics often penalize U.S. producers by grouping them with less efficient international systems. The industry is asking for more clarity and consistency—so reporting is easier to understand and supports better decisionmaking. The guidelines are designed to help member companies align their reporting with international frameworks, including the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). This allows producers to use specific data to showcase how high-quality genetics, nutrition and management result in lower emissions per pound of meat produced.

• Closing the Data Gap

By providing clear methodology, The Meat Institute aims to help companies of all sizes overcome technical barriers to reporting, facilitating an industry-wide move toward “net zero” targets.

The Meat Institute is creating a new resource hub to help the industry—and everyone in its supply chains—tackle greenhouse gas reporting in a clearer, more practical way. This will allow the industry to move away from reacting to external criticism to setting the benchmark for what sustainable protein production looks like using peer-reviewed science.

Read the full report here: https://www.meatinstitute.org/sites/default/files/documents/Meat_Institute_Emissions_Factors_Brief.pdf

Costco Fans Scramble for Rare "Hot Dog" Bourbon Release

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 16:36:57 GMT

A Costco store near Washington, D.C., sold out of its new single-barrel bourbon “I Got That Dog in Me” in under a day. Based on Costco’s famous $1.50 hot dog combo, this bottle of Rare Character bourbon was priced at $85.99 and limited to one per membership.

Costco’s food court hot dog and soda combo drew attention from both bourbon enthusiasts and Costco fans, reports Fox News . The bourbon was listed at 126.1 proof and aged 11 years and four months.

In 2021, Pablo Moix and Pete Nevenglosky joined forces to create Rare Character Whiskey Co . Rare Character is known for developing high-proof, limited-release bourbons and ryes that have gained a strong following among collectors.

Running to Stores
Costco customers are eager to get their hands on a bottle. According to a Reddit user tracking the release, bottles were restocked overnight and completely sold out by 9:45 am the next morning.

“Let’s be honest, we were all buying it for the label,” they wrote. Another added, “I’d buy it in a heartbeat.”

Other Reddit users said they would be “running” to buy the bourbon for their husband, while others said, “I don’t even drink alcohol and I want it!”

The bottle’s scarcity has added to the craze, with some people offering to buy the hot dog bourbon for prices way above retail, ranging from $500 to $1,000, Fox News reports.

“Got that dog in me” is slang often used to describe someone with grit and heart. Fox News says the product’s meme-driven branding helped fuel the frenzy, tapping into online culture and the company’s loyal fan base.

An iconic deal
Although Costco may be out of the hot dog bourbon for now, they aren’t out of hot dogs.

Costco’s CEO Ron Vachris recently reiterated that the hot dog combo will stay $1.50 as long as he’s around. The company’s food court staple (a hot dog and soda) has become a symbol for the brand. It has not changed in price since 1985.

Beyond the Blame Game: Navigate the Mental Toll of Modern Ag

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 13:55:12 GMT

When market pressures mount, it is easy to succumb to the “blame game.” Yet, the most resilient operations are those that anchor themselves in a mission larger than the current balance sheet. For leaders like James Burgum and Lamar Steiger, coping with stress isn’t just about managing the books, it’s about managing the mindset.

The Many Hats of the Modern Producer

James Burgum, CEO of The Arthur Companies, believes the first step in managing stress is acknowledging the sheer weight of the roles farmers play.

“One of the things I did when I stepped into my role is an exercise where I said to our team, ‘Help me understand all the hats on the farm – farmworker, agronomist, grain merchandiser, mechanic, truck driver, snow removal lead, banker, economist,’” Burgum said during a discussion at Top Producer Summit. “You start to go down the list, and its dozens and dozens of roles that an individual farmer plays.”

By recognizing the complexity of these roles, Burgum argues that producers can move toward servant leadership—prioritizing the team’s needs.

“There are things that are much more important and much bigger than the challenges we’re wrestling with on the job every day,” Burgum says. “It’s hard to juggle all the balls, but at the end of the day, we want everyone on our team to make sure they get home at night and be there for their families.”

Choosing Abundance Over Scarcity

Lamar Steiger, owner of The 808 Ranch, learned about stress through the lens of his father, a man who seemed to face every possible setback: health crises, financial downturns and missed market peaks.

The farm struggled during times of high interest rates in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s and his father was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, Guillain-Barre, that left him paralyzed for six months.

Still, his dad always had an attitude of abundance, not scarcity, Steiger says.

“With my brothers holding other obligations, I was left to milk the cows,” Steiger says. “We were so far behind, and all my dad would say is, ‘It could be worse.’”

Breaking the Silence

Eventually, his family lost the dairy. After hitting rock bottom and battling depression , Steiger realized that the “tough it out” mentality was a liability, not an asset.

“When the stresses pile up, you’ve got to find help,” Steiger says. “I wasn’t ‘man enough’ to step up and say, ‘Hey, something’s wrong here.’ I should have said, ‘Time out—this is not working.’”

Steiger’s advice for those feeling the weight of the current market is simple: Find your “who.” Whether it is a spouse, a neighbor or a professional, talking through the stress is the only way to separate your self-worth from the volatility of the markets.

“In agriculture, we’re so reliant on outside forces,” Steiger says. “You’ve got to have an attitude that it’s going to work out. As my Dad would say, ‘Well, we never missed a meal.’ That was his bottom line for ‘It’s okay.’”

From Constraints to Catalysts: How Ag Leaders Turn Hardships into Strategy

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 18:19:03 GMT

In an industry defined by “one-year-at-a-time” cycles, the greatest threat to a growing operation isn’t just a market downturn—it’s the inertia that comes with size. Farm Journal CEO Prescott Shibles argues that long-term survival requires a rare blend of faith and agility. To maintain an entrepreneurial mindset, leaders must lean into “conviction” as the core of a strategy that survives the lows.

Here is how four industry leaders are turning today’s constraints into tomorrow’s differentiators.

1. Build when times are hard.

When Brent Smith, president and CEO of NewLeaf Symbiotics, joined the company in 2023, the grain market was entering a significant down cycle. While some saw a risky time to lead a startup, he saw an opportunity.

“I learned in my first startup that the best time to build a business is in hard times,” Smith said said during a discussion at Top Producer Summit. “Because if you can’t withstand tough times, you’re not going to survive long term.”

For Smith, survival meant doubling down on the company’s core: science. Despite the pressure to cut costs, NewLeaf continues to spend half of its operating expenses on science.

“It would be very easy to peel that back,” he admits. “But we focused on projects that make the most impact the quickest, while keeping an eye on the long-term innovation in our pipeline.”

2. Control what you can control.

Farmers face the ultimate constraint every year: the weather. Scott Beck, president of Beck’s Hybrids, recalls the planting crisis of 2019 when constant rains kept tractors out of the fields well into May.

“I was concerned for our customers not being able to plant, but also for us not being able to plant our seed for the next year,” Beck says. “There was nothing that we could do to control the weather, but we could control how we interacted with our customers.”

Rather than retreating, the Beck’s team focused on transparency and empathy, using video series to connect with farmers and even forming small groups for prayer and support. Ultimately, they wanted farmers to know they cared and were there to support them however they could.

Despite the financial reality of what could happen if farmers didn’t plant and returned seed, Beck’s decided their course of action would not include employee layoffs. Instead, they prepared to sell land to protect their people.

“Fortunately, the weather broke and everybody was able to get planted,” he says. “Then the second miracle happened. We had the second warmest September on record, and that’s what brought the crop through to enable 2019 to not turn out as bad as it started.”

3. Turn disadvantages into advantages.

In 2014, Lamar Steiger, owner of The 808 Ranch, was tasked with a monumental challenge: helping Walmart reinvent its beef supply chain. At the time, the retail giant was at a disadvantage, forced to accept whatever the major meatpackers provided.

Steiger’s strategy was to turn that lack of control into a new kind of independence.

“I convinced the Walmart team to go around the traditional supply chain,” Steiger says. Today, Walmart sources 28% of its beef from its own “farm-to-table” supply chain.

There’s no question that decision was really good for Walmart. But Steiger says it was also really good for him personally.

“It reminded me that no matter how big you are, there are always challenges,” he says.

4. Create “white space” for the future.

When the day-to-day tasks of an operation become overwhelming, long-term strategy is often the first thing to go. James Burgum, CEO of The Arthur Companies, believes leaders must intentionally carve out “white space” for their teams.

“It’s important to find ways where people can actually spend their time working on the business, not just in the business,” he says.

By protecting time for team members to execute ideas that are three to five years out, Burgum manages the tension between short-term urgency and long-term viability.

“It’s hard to step away from the daily fires you’ll face in your operation, but it’s important,” he adds. “How we manage that tension of short term and long term is creating that white space and making sure that we consciously work on the business.

The Long Game

Ultimately, resilience in agriculture is about knowing when to push and when to pivot.

“You have to know when to put the gas down, and you need to know when to tap the brake,” Smith says. “And regardless of what you are doing, you need to stay focused on what you’re doing.”

Whether it is investing in science during a downturn or choosing customer empathy over the bottom line, these leaders say constraints don’t have to be roadblocks; they can be the very catalysts that drive an operation forward.

The Identity Trap: What You Do is Not Who You Are

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 18:56:52 GMT

I will never forget how helpless I felt on Jan. 24 when I watched my son stumble across the wrestling mat. He took two major blows to the head during a match – a sound I could hear from the top of the gym bleachers. As he struggled to orient himself, I felt like I was going to throw up.

In a matter of seconds, he was on his back convulsing with trainers at his side trying to take off his shoulder brace so he could breathe. Sweat poured off his body in a way no workout ever could have done.

I held my hand over my mouth and wailed, watching nearly 13 years of hard work, sacrifice and commitment get carried off the mat on a stretcher. I knew in my heart that this was not a “shake it off” moment as they raced him to the emergency room by ambulance.

By God’s grace, the X-ray of his neck was clear. He never lost consciousness. He answered his questions correctly. Minus the uncomfortable neck brace, within an hour, our son seemed a little drowsy, but normal. We were able to leave Loyola Hospital in Chicago later that day and made it home through the snow that night. With time and rest, he was expected to make a full recovery, but it just wasn’t enough time for his brain to heal to allow him to wrestle in his senior year state series starting a couple of days later.

As a parent, this was a pretty excruciating moment because for thousands of days, I watched this kid commit his whole heart to this sport – a three-time state qualifier who overcame a hip avulsion fracture suffered during his sophomore year during the state tournament, a car accident at the end of his junior season and a torn labrum in his shoulder just weeks after his senior season began. It seemed like all of that was enough. And yet the disappointment was not over.

If I can be honest, I’m angry. Not at anyone in particular, but I’m just angry at the way it played out for him. There is nothing worse than watching your kid hurt and not be able to fix it.

The following weekend of regionals was hard to sit through, though we absolutely wanted the best for his teammates. At church the next day, some friends we hadn’t seen in a while came up and talked to our son. I overheard him say, “Wrestling is something I do, it’s not who I am.”

Parallel Paths: From the Mat to the Ranch

Fast forward a few days to the Top Producer Summit where I listened to a powerful panel. Leaders of top companies in agriculture weighed in on a variety of thought-provoking topics, but one message stood out to me.

“All too often, we confuse what we do with who we are,” said Lamar Steiger with The 808 Ranch. “As farmers and ranchers, we are our job. It’s our identity. That was my problem as a young man.”

Steiger grew up on a dairy. High interest rates in the late 1970s made farming particularly challenging. When he was in his 20s, their family lost the dairy. After working so hard to make that operation work, Steiger took this as a deep personal failure.

“There was nothing I could do to save the dairy because outside forces were at hand. But it’s so hard for farmers and ranchers to separate that,” he said. “Looking back, I had depression for quite a while after that, but we didn’t talk about that then.”

When he was in his mid-30s, Steiger attempted suicide.

“I had to be removed totally from my working life and start completely over,” he shared. “I learned the hard way how to separate my identity from my role.”

Steiger said it wasn’t pretty, but he is grateful for how this time of his life changed him.

“When you come to the end of yourself, you look for something bigger and better. That’s worked out really good for me,” he said. “Being a rancher is cool to me, but it’s not who I am. I’m Lamar. I try my best and I fail. We have great successes and then we have some things that just don’t work out. But it’s not all my responsibility.”

There’s something so humbling about another person vulnerably sharing their story. We can learn so much from each other. All it takes is a willingness to share your story. Left unshared, our stories may only change us. But by sharing, we can help each other find our way through the very real burdens of life.

A Truth Worth Holding Onto

It’s easy to confuse your identity with what you do because it becomes such a big part of our lives. As another Shike kid closes one chapter and gets ready to start the next, I find myself confusing who I am with my role as a mom. I’m not sure what life looks like without Saturday wrestling tournaments and late nights posting photos of our wrestlers.

As I sat there at Top Producer Summit, I kept hearing my son’s voice in my head saying, “Wrestling is something I do, it’s not who I am.”

He’s only 17 and has a lot of life to live, but I’m grateful he recognizes this truth. I know there will be times when he will be tempted to measure his worth by his performance. But I believe when we get honest and share these stories, we can help one another avoid the mistake of confusing what we do with who we are.

Preserving the Future: How Tennessee is Protecting Farmland While Driving Development

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:58:53 GMT

How is Tennessee, one of the fastest-growing states in the country, balancing economic development while still protecting farmland? Gov. Bill Lee says it’s one of the state’s greatest challenges, but he believes there is a way to do both.

Last year, Lee signed the Tennessee Farmland Preservation Act into law, tasking the Tennessee Department of Agriculture with developing a grant program to incentivize farmland owners to voluntarily enroll their land in a permanent conservation easement.

“We lose 9 acres an hour to development,” Lee said at the 2026 Top Producer Summit . “We recognize that agriculture is our No. 1 driver of our economy, so we have to preserve farmland. This act will incentivize farm property, and agriculture property in particular, to be put in land trusts so it can never be developed. This effort has been widely accepted by farmers and is beginning to take effect.”

Where is the Push for Economic Development in Tennessee?

Although economic development is taking place in many different forms, the state of Tennessee is seeing a big push for data centers. For some farmers, this could be the revenue generator they’ve been waiting on, but for others, it’s a contentious issue.

“If we are going to have a data center, it has to work for all of us,” Lee says. “Most important is that the impact on the grid for power is one that our state can effectively manage.”

He believes the data centers and the companies behind them should be partners with the state and with regulatory bodies.

“They should come in and say, ‘If we’re going to come here, this is what we will deliver to the state,’” Lee says. “Besides just the investment in dollars and what they will take from the grid, how will they deliver to the state?”

AI, a major data center and supercomputing facility in Memphis, is an example of a good partnership, he says.

“They are producing their own power and contributing to the grid. It’s a great partnership and model for things that we should be looking for in the future,” Lee adds.

How is Tennessee Helping Farmers?

Tennessee crop farmers are feeling pain right now like their peers across the country.

“It’s a tough environment for crop farmers,” Lee says. “We’ve seen the staggering losses some of our producers have experienced. But they’re very resilient people. They know that a few years ago, crop prices were good. Right now, they’re really bad. A lot of patience is required in farming, and they know that.”

Stability and predictability are nearly impossible to have in agriculture, he says. But he’s working to help provide stability and predictability from a federal standpoint through ag policy efforts.

“I think that’s what farmers look for more than anything,” Lee says. “They don’t want a rescue or an immediate solution to the problem they have. I think farmers want some indication of what stability looks like and what predictability looks like and what they can expect in the future.”

From a livestock standpoint, Tennessee has been investing heavily in the development of more local processing options.

“We do believe that locally sourced products are helpful to our own ag community,” he says. “To the degree that we can facilitate that in this state, we ought to do it. We’ve broadly expanded our ability to process beef in this state. We’re not nearly where we need to be, but we’re headed in the right direction.”

Creating a Pipeline for Agriculture

Lee is passionate about thinking about the future and creating pathways for skilled trades, especially in the agriculture industry. His experience running a company in the skilled trades business — plumbers, pipefitters, electricians and welders — has helped him see the need firsthand.

“One of the most important things we can do is recognize that kids’ giftings are really different,” Lee says.

Lee’s passion to better meet the demand for skilled labor came to fruition through the Governor’s Investment in Vocational Education (GIVE) Act.

“It created, initially, a $1-million program in high schools for vocational, technical and agricultural education programs,” he says. “It led to $500 million in middle school career and technical education programs, and ultimately $1 billion in our colleges of technology that deliver ag education, technical education and vocational education. We have removed the waitlist for our colleges of technology. We’re delivering 10,000 more workers a year who are skilled tradesmen.”

He believes it’s one of the reasons Tennessee has so many global companies making the decision to come to the state.

“We have a lot of activity here economically because the state with the workers is going to win every time,” Lee says. “We started seven years ago by creating a workforce that was much more diverse than what it had been previously, and that includes agricultural education.”

As a cattle producer and proud Tennessean, Lee says he’s most proud of how he’s helped support the state’s future in agriculture by investing in youth and the technologies that will be the future.

“It will be fun for me to look back years from now and say, ‘I’m really glad we did that. Ag was No. 1 in Tennessee when I was there, and ag is still No. 1 in Tennessee now that I’ve been gone,’” he says. “That’s what I hope for.”

ADM and Alltech Launch Akralos Animal Nutrition Joint Venture

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 18:39:37 GMT

A new animal feed and nutrition company, Akralos Animal Nutrition, launched on Feb. 1. This company, formed through a joint venture between global agriculture leaders ADM and Alltech, combines Alltech’s U.S.-based Hubbard Feeds and Canada-based Masterfeeds businesses with ADM’s U.S. feed operations.

“Akralos brings together proven scale, innovation and infrastructure with a deep commitment to service and results,” Akralos chief executive officer Brian Gier says in a release. “From day one, our focus is on delivering nutrition our customers can rely on, support they can count on and partnerships that help their animals and businesses thrive.”

Through an extensive network of more than 40 feed mills across North America and more than 1,400 team members, Akralos plans to deliver reliable, high-quality feeds, minerals and supplements through its trusted brands, backed by advanced nutrition expertise, leading-edge science and personalized service, the company says.

“Akralos is dedicated to helping customers gain a measurable advantage, bringing together passionate teams, proven products and shared values. Its experienced team works closely with customers to deliver tailored solutions, consistent performance and actionable insights, supported by leading-edge research and development, broad logistical capabilities and strong connections across the agri-food value chain,” Akralos says.

ADM and Alltech’s longstanding relationship goes back to 1980 when ADM was Alltech’s first customer. Akralos brings together both company’s complementary strengths to form a unified organization with a mission to serve as an advanced nutrition partnership committed to delivering a competitive edge for producers, retailers and animal owners across North America.

“With the unique strengths and shared values of Alltech and ADM, we can deliver deeper expertise, broader support and a stronger portfolio of nutrition solutions and services, all designed to help our customers build more profitable and resilient operations,” said Akralos chief operating officer Brad Dalke, an animal feed industry veteran who has served in numerous leadership roles at ADM over the past 27 years.

Akralos will be headquartered in Lexington, Ky., with a footprint including feed manufacturing, research and laboratory facilities.

Hubbard and Masterfeeds remain Akralos’ core customer-facing brands, preserving continuity for customers across North America, the company says.

“Our vision is to become the most trusted name in animal nutrition by delivering high-performance feeds and partnerships that drive results,” Gier says. “We’re here to listen, collaborate and use science to solve real-world challenges — nourishing advantage for all of our customers and partners.”

USDA Announces New World Screwworm Grand Challenge

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 21:47:36 GMT

Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced the launch of the N ew World Screwworm (NWS) Grand Challenge. This funding opportunity marks a pivotal step in USDA’s comprehensive strategy to combat NWS and prevent its northward spread.

“This is a strategic investment in America’s farmers and ranchers and is an important action to ensure the safety and future success of our food supply, which is essential to our national security,” Rollins says. “These are the kinds of innovations that will help us stay ahead of this pest and protect our food supply and our economy, protecting the way of life of our ranchers and go towards rebuilding our cattle herd to lower consumer prices on grocery store shelves. We know we have tried-and-true tools and methods to defeat this pest, but we must constantly look for new and better methods and innovate our way to success. Together, through science, innovation, and collaboration, we can ensure we’re utilizing the latest tools and technology to combat NWS in Mexico and Central America and keep it out of the United States.”

As part of the Grand Challenge, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will make up to $100 million available to support innovative projects that enhance sterile NWS fly production, strengthen preparedness and response strategies, and safeguard U.S. agriculture, animal health, and trade.

Priority Areas for Funding

APHIS invites proposals that support one or more of the following objectives:

Enhance sterile NWS fly production
Develop novel NWS traps and lures
Develop and increase understanding of NWS therapeutics/treatments (i.e., products that could treat, prevent, or control NWS) for animals
Develop other tools to bolster preparedness or response to NWS

The notice of funding opportunity, including application instructions, eligibility, and program requirements, is available on the NWS Grand Challenge webpage . Applicants can also find information on the ezFedGrants website  or  Grants.gov  by searching USDA-APHIS-10025-OA000000-26-0001.  

Eligible applicants are invited to submit proposals that align with and support these priorities by the deadline on February 23, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Entities interested in submitting a proposal should ensure they are registered with the  U.S. Government System for Award Management (SAM) . Learn more about the basics of the funding process and  how to get ready to apply .  

Your Next Reads:
New World Screwworm Found in Newborn Calf 197 Miles from U.S.-Mexico Border
USDA Launches Screwworm.gov
The Smell You’ll Never Forget: A Calf Infested with New World Screwworm

Hot Dog! Smithfield Goes All-In to Acquire Nathan’s Famous Brand

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 16:42:06 GMT

Fast Facts: The Financials
Purchase Price: $102 per share in cash.
Enterprise Value: Approximately $450 million.
Valuation Multiple: 12.4x LTM adjusted EBITDA (10.0x post-synergies).
Synergies: $9 million in projected annual cost savings by the second anniversary of closing.
Expected Closing: First half of 2026.
Board Support: Directors representing ~29.9% of shares have agreed to vote in favor.

Smithfield Foods has entered into an agreement to acquire all of Nathan’s Famous’ issued and outstanding shares for $102 per share in cash, an enterprise value of approximately $450 million. Smithfield Foods has held an exclusive license since March 2014 from Nathan’s Famous within the U.S., Canada and Sam’s Clubs in Mexico to manufacture, distribute, market and sell “Nathan’s Famous” branded hot dogs, sausages, corned beef and certain other ancillary products through the retail channel, and to manufacture and distribute “Nathan’s Famous” branded hot dog and sausage products for the foodservice channel.

Nathan’s Famous started as a hot dog stand on Coney Island in 1916 by immigrant Nathan Handwerker with $300 loan from two friends and his wife’s secret spice recipe, according to the Nathan’s Famous website. Originally selling the hot dogs for 5 cents, the iconic food became famous nationwide under the leadership of Handwerker’s son, Murray.

How Will This Impact Pork and Beef Producers?

Successfully closing this acquisition secures Smithfield’s rights to this brand and maximizes the Nathan’s Famous brand growth across the retail and foodservice channels, the company says.

“Given the synergies that a major pork producer/packer/processor brings, adding this to the big Smithfield portfolio of brands, and combined with its marketing muscle, should be long-term positive for demand,” says Altin Kalo, lead economist at Steiner Consulting. “But in the near term, I don’t see how this has a significant impact on the pricing landscape. My understanding is that the mechanics of procurement/production will not change in the near term.”

Glynn Tonsor, professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University, agrees and says, “It is not immediately clear this will have a large impact on markets nor livestock producers.”

But from a long-term perspective, Kalo says there is a continuation of the vertical integration that has been taking place in the industry over the decades.

“It tends to be far more pervasive in chicken but pork is not far behind, and more beef packers are adding value-added capabilities,” Kalo says. “In my view, such acquisitions allow major companies, like Smithfield, to buffer the margin pressures they may experience in certain segments of the business given they have multiple profit centers along the supply chain. This should make them more competitive relative to smaller producers/processors that have more exposure to the cyclical nature of their business.”

Smithfield President and CEO Shane Smith says the Nathan’s Famous acquisition is a “meaningful step in the progression of Smithfield Foods allowing us to own all of the top brands in our Packaged Meats portfolio and unlock new growth opportunities for our largest segment.”

Since entering into their licensing agreement with Nathan’s Famous in 2014, Smithfield has made significant investments to build and grow the Nathan’s Famous brand.

“With our manufacturing scale, marketing strength, product innovation capabilities, and retail and foodservice channel expertise, acquiring Nathan’s Famous will allow us to take the brand to new heights,” Smith says.

Driving Growth

The acquisition of Nathan’s Famous is expected to drive “growth of the high margin Packaged Meats segment by harnessing the powerful Nathan’s Famous brand and fueling it with an expanded portfolio of innovative products that build customer awareness across Smithfield’s well-established retail and foodservice sales channels.” Among other things, the company also anticipates increased foodservice sales volume by placing this channel under the direct management of Smithfield’s expert team and leveraging Smithfield’s established, scaled infrastructure.

(Smithfield Foods)

“This combination is a natural fit and provides a compelling valuation for Nathan’s Famous stockholders,” says Eric Gatoff, CEO of Nathan’s Famous. “As a long-time partner, Smithfield has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to investing in and growing our brand while maintaining the utmost quality and customer service standards.”

According to Smithfield, the transaction is not subject to a financing contingency and will be funded by cash on hand. The transaction closing is expected to occur in the first half of 2026. Members of the Nathan’s Famous Board of Directors who in the aggregate own or control approximately 29.9% of the outstanding shares of Nathan’s Famous common stock have entered into a voting agreement pursuant to which they have agreed to vote their shares of common stock of Nathan’s Famous in favor of the transaction.

It’s Meeting Season: How to Conquer the Crowded Room

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 19:27:10 GMT

You walk into a crowded room of people you don’t know. Everyone is laughing and talking in their groups. It would be much easier to walk right back out, but you are there to represent a group with the mission of meeting people and making connections. So, you take your next step forward. But now what?

For some people, this is what nightmares are made of. For Jennifer Tirey, executive director of the Illinois Pork Producers Association , this is what she lives to do.

“Jennifer is excellent at building relationships with people,” says Josh Maschhoff, president of the Illinois Pork Producers Association. “She can walk into a room where she might not know anybody and quickly make introductions and connections with those people. And most importantly, she can remember their name, and she can do it with a lot of people.”

Maschhoff admits he often finds himself in a room with a lot of people, and he can’t remember their names.

“Whether it’s fellow producers or members of the legislature, the closer I can put myself to Jennifer Tirey, the better off I will be,” he says. “I know I’ve got a resource that can help pull me along when I’m struggling because she can remember all of those people.”

He says her ability to remember the details about someone’s personal life and truly make a connection with them makes her unique.

Authentic Relationship Building Takes Work

How do you develop a superpower like this? Tirey admits it does take work.

“You just can’t go into a room and know a lot of people’s names without putting a lot of work into it,” she says. “I go back to the very first meeting that I had with Pork Producers. I’d only been on the job for less than a week, and they had already scheduled a regional meeting in Bloomington. I spent the entire car ride — because someone else was driving — memorizing the names of the individuals that were going to be there because I wanted the producers to know that I care and want to know them.”

If you want to truly connect with people and build a relationship, you have to be willing to work at it. Before every event, Tirey devotes time to reading over the list of who will be there and looks up photos to try to memorize faces.

“I’m always learning and trying to sharpen that skill,” she says. “I think that’s a valuable asset to have within agriculture. At the end of the day, agriculture is a really small community, and you cross paths a lot. You need each other to be successful.”

How to Connect and Be Remembered in Any Room

Now, back to the crowded room. Before you enter, adopt a mindset that you are there to learn and support others, not just “work the room.” Here are a few tips to help you connect with the crowd.

1. Scan The Room.
When you enter the room, use soft eye contact as you scan the room. Don’t stare, but instead do a “sweeping gaze.” According to the Science of People , a sweeping gaze is a slow, methodical look around the room. Start the gaze the moment you enter a room by looking to your left then slowly sweeping across the room until you find your opening or where you want to go. Then, make longer eye contact there.

“It’s easier to make connections when you give yourself the outward look that you want to meet people,” Tirey says.

2. Project Confidence.
Remember to smile and stand tall to project confidence as you head toward where you want to go. If you don’t feel confident, don’t worry because you aren’t alone, says Marilyn Sherman, a well-known motivational speaker .

“Even when you don’t feel confident, act confident. It will change your entire mindset,” Sherman says.

3. Make Direct Eye Contact And Have a Firm Handshake.
Tirey says the best advice she has to offer when connecting with people is to start with direct eye contact. Let the person you are talking to know they have your full attention.

“In addition to eye contact, a really firm handshake to a person that you’ve never met gives a good impression,” she adds. “It also keeps you top of mind with them.”

4. Listen.
“Really taking a moment to listen to who they are and what they have to say is key,” Tirey says. “I think doing this gives me a chance to internally set myself and get prepared for meeting somebody new. It allows you to learn about the person you’re trying to get to know without any ulterior motive.”

She believes taking a pause and letting people share what they want to share first is a great way to understand where they are coming from, too.

5. Offer Value.
Tirey says she strives to be a straight shooter and appreciates that when meeting others.

“Life moves fast, and I would much rather cut to the chase.” Tirey says. “I love making connections and catching up with people, but there are things that must be done, too. I appreciate directness and constructive criticism because that makes me a better person.”

If you have a relevant idea or suggestion, be ready to share it succinctly.

“One thing that works like magic is creating a memorable moment,” according to Wave Connect . “Think about ways you can add value right in the moment. Maybe you overhear someone mention a challenge they are facing, and you can recommend a solution or introduce them to someone you know. That kind of value sticks.”

As Maya Angelou said: “People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. People will never forget how you made them feel.”

Learn more about Tirey in the latest episode of The PORK Podcast.

House Approves Gray Wolf Protection Removal in a Victory for Cattlemen

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 15:15:21 GMT

In a bipartisan vote of 211-204, the U.S. House passed the Pet and Livestock Protection Act (H.R. 845), introduced by Congressman Tom Tiffany (WI-07) and Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-04) on Dec. 18. The Pet and Livestock Protection Act delists the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act (ESA), prevents endless lawfare from overturning the decision, and restores authority to state lawmakers and wildlife officials to responsibly manage gray wolf populations.

“When federal protections were first established for gray wolves in the Great Lakes region, populations were only in the hundreds,” says Congressman Tom Tiffany . “Today, there are well over 4,000 wolves across Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Despite this recovery, activist judges continue to ignore the science, leaving livestock and pets to be slaughtered and rural communities vulnerable.”

Tiffany says the Pet and Livestock Protection Act reflects a commonsense approach that has been recognized across administrations of both parties, including Presidents Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden.

“The gray wolf has recovered, and Wisconsin should be allowed to responsibly manage a population that has exceeded recovery goals without interference from out-of-state judges,” Tiffany says.

NCBA Responds

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and Public Lands Council (PLC) have been strong supporters of this legislation which would reissue the 2020 rule delisting gray wolves in the lower 48 states and ensure that the delisting cannot be overturned in federal court again.

“For too long, ranchers have grappled with the pendulum swing of regulatory determination on the gray wolf,” says NCBA president and Nebraska cattleman Buck Wehrbein. “The last three presidents have concluded that the gray wolf is fully recovered, yet lawsuits from activist groups have forced the agency to back away from sound science and keep the wolf listed.”

Wehrbein believes this would give management decisions and certainty back to cattle producers, who are suffering financially and emotionally from wolf depredations that increase every year.

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert says she is thrilled the Pet and Livestock Protection Act has now passed the House with a bipartisan vote, marking a major win for ranchers, farmers and property owners in Colorado and nationwide.

“The science has been clear for years: gray wolves are fully recovered, and their resurgence deserves to be celebrated as a true conservation success story,” Boebert says. “It’s long past time to delist them and empower states to set their own management policies. I can’t wait for President Trump to sign this bill into law.”

Gray wolves were delisted during the first Trump administration in 2020 , but this rule was vacated by a U.S. District Courting ruling in 2022. Since being listed under the ESA in 1974, the gray wolf population has seen tremendous recovery, exceeding recovery goals by 300%.

The next step for the Pet and Livestock Protection Act is for it to move to the U.S. Senate for consideration.

OSU Agriculture Launches Animal Excellence Initiative to Improve Livestock Health

Wed, 17 Dec 2025 21:00:11 GMT

Oklahoma State University is building on its long-standing tradition of leadership in animal agriculture with the launch of the OSU Agriculture Animal Excellence initiative, a comprehensive effort to elevate teaching, research and Extension programs that impact animal health.

OSU Creates Beef Center of Excellence

At the heart of this initiative is the creation of the Beef Center of Excellence, a cross-disciplinary hub designed to unite experts across the beef supply chain.

The Beef Center of Excellence will drive innovation through cutting-edge research, advanced Extension services and collaborative partnerships aimed at improving profitability and sustainability for beef producers today and in the future, said Robert Hodgen, president and CEO of King Ranch Inc. and a member of the Beef Center of Excellence advisory board.

“Creating the Beef Center of Excellence is a way to put a stake in the ground and say that Oklahoma State is going to be great at thinking about the broader cattle and beef industry,” Hodgen said. “By having this, we can attract even more great students from around the world, who want to focus on making a great-tasting product that’s nutritious for the consumer and grown in a sustainable manner.”

Supported by an advisory board, an executive director and endowed chairs in areas such as artificial intelligence, beef cattle economics, and rangeland ecology, the Beef Center of Excellence will fund impactful research and outreach.

Additionally, the Animal Excellence initiative includes facility and technology upgrades to modernize OSU’s animal teaching and research units.

OSU remains one of the few universities with operating units for all food animal species and is nationally recognized for the superior quality of livestock, teaching and research, all within proximity to OSU’s main campus.

“The animal units are a critical part of everything we do,” said Richard Coffey, head of the OSU Department of Animal and Food Sciences. “The animal units so close to campus give us the opportunity to use them as a recruiting tool for real, hands-on teaching with our students. Part of the reason we get students from more than 40 different states across the U.S. is that they know they can come to OSU and participate in hands-on learning as part of their education.”

OSU Agriculture established the Animal Unit Endowment Fund to address critical infrastructure needs, advancing experiential learning and research capabilities to enhance human, animal and environmental health.

“We are at the point that a lot of our facilities are starting to show their age,” Coffey said. “We’ve completed some master planning to really think about what the next 20 to 30 years will look like for those units, not only to keep the locations where they’re at, but also to have modern facilities for our students. We’re looking to upgrade some of our facilities since they are at the end of their functional life.”

Oklahoma Pork Council Gifts Farm Improvements

Recently, the Oklahoma Pork Council made a generous gift to the OSU Swine Research and Education Center to support building improvements and ensure the long-term sustainability of this vital program.

The Oklahoma Pork Council Board of Directors values the work OSU does in swine production research and in providing hands-on learning experiences for students, said Kylee Deniz, executive director of the Oklahoma Pork Council.

“As a board representing the full spectrum of Oklahoma’s pork industry, from first-time 4-H exhibitors to our largest commercial producers, our mission is to support each segment,” Deniz said. “We believe the OSU Swine Research and Education Center is pivotal in equipping the university to lead the swine industry forward through cutting-edge research that can be applied directly on Oklahoma pig farms.”

Deniz said the Oklahoma Pork Council wants to help build the Swine Research and Education Center for the future, a facility that will not only support the industry through relevant, high-quality production research but also train and equip students to enter and excel in the pork industry workforce.

“OSU has the potential to serve as a hub for the pork industry and as a trusted resource for consumers who want to better understand how pigs are raised,” she said. “Through this investment, the benefits to the industry reach both sides of on-farm advancements while also building consumer confidence in how Oklahoma pork is produced.”

In addition to the Swine Research and Education Center, the Animal Unit Endowment Fund will provide support to maintain and enhance the student experience and research capabilities of the Charles and Linda Cline Equine Center, the Ferguson Family Dairy Center, the Sheep & Goat Center, the Purebred Beef Center and the Willard Sparks Beef Research Center.

For more information about supporting the Beef Center of Excellence and OSU’s animal teaching and research units, visit Animal Excellence online .

Overreliance on China for Vitamins Poses Threat to U.S. Food Security

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 16:04:57 GMT

Vitamin manufacturing in the U.S. is nearly non-existent, leaving the country reliant on imports from China, the global leader in vitamin manufacturing. In a letter to President Trump , 16 members of Congress warned the administration about the country’s overreliance on China for “critical nutrients that are essential to both human health and animal agriculture.”

“Food security is national security, and immediate action is required to repatriate vitamin production to the United States to safeguard our supply chains for humans and animals alike,” the lawmakers expressed.

China’s vitamin production accounts for more than 70% of the world’s feed-grade vitamin A and 62% of vitamin E. An estimated 78% of U.S. vitamin imports come from China, with the country providing as much as 100% of some vitamins (Nearly 100% of folic acid is produced in China).

“Vitamins are indispensable for animal production, which forms the backbone of our food supply.”

-Congress Members Finstad, Hinson, Johnson, Bacon, Bost, Miller-Meeks, Schmidt, Joyce, Stauber, LaHood, Scott, Fedorchak, Rouzer, Messmer, Mann, Fischbach

“Without adequate vitamins, sectors including eggs, aquaculture, swine, pet food, poultry, beef and dairy would face severe disruptions,” the lawmakers wrote. “Shortages could lead to reduced feed efficiency, impaired growth rates, compromised animal health, and diminished protein output, ultimately threatening livestock productivity and food availability.”

National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) past president and Minnesota pork producer Lori Stevermer highlighted this in her testimonies before the Senate and House Agriculture Committees earlier this year. NPPC, along with the American Feed Industry Association and other organizations, have been pressing the Trump administration on securing our vitamin supply chain.

“Vitamins represent a significant proportion of total feed ingredient imports, and some vitamins (biotin, folic acid, pyridoxine, thiamin, and B12) are almost exclusively manufactured in China,” Stevermer testified. “With the exception of vitamin A, E and niacin, 80% to 100% of all other vitamins must be imported from China. For biotin, folic acid, and vitamin B12, there are no other sources beyond China to acquire these vitamins.”

The lawmakers asked the administration to invest in domestic vitamin manufacturing, incorporate vitamin production into national security strategies, conduct a comprehensive review of vitamin supply chain vulnerabilities, and ensure infant formula nutrition inputs, such as vitamins, minerals and premixes, are integrated into federal supply chain vulnerability assessments and contingency planning.

“Vitamins are essential nutrients required by swine to optimize health, productivity, and wellbeing,” NPPC wrote in Capital Update. “The U.S. pork industry is dependent on vitamins manufactured in China because production is limited, and in some cases, there are no other country of origin options to meet industry volume demands.”

The lawmakers who submitted the letter include Brad Finstad, Ashley Hinson, Dusty Johnson, Don Bacon, Mike Bost, Mariannette J. Miller-Meeks, M.D., Derek Schmidt, John Joyce, M.D., Pete Stauber, Darin LaHood, Austin Scott, Julie Fedorchak, David Rouzer, Mark Messmer, Tracey Mann and Michelle Fischbach.

“The time to act is now – before a crisis unfolds,” the lawmakers say. “Food security for our animals and humans is indeed national security.”

FSIS Releases Updated Guidelines for Verification of U.S.-Origin Label Claims

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 20:40:11 GMT

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued a directive for inspection program personnel (IPP) Dec. 10 that provides instructions for label verification of voluntary U.S.-origin claims.

As of Jan. 1, 2026, establishments that use a U.S.-origin claim on FSIS-regulated products will need to maintain and provide the agency access to documentation that demonstrates how the product meets the regulatory criteria for use of the claim.

FSIS published the final rule, “Voluntary Labeling of FSIS-Regulated Products with U.S.-Origin Claims,” in March 2024, amending the regulations to define the conditions under which the labeling of meat and poultry products may bear voluntary label claims indicating that the product is of U.S. origin.

The final rule also clarified requirements for voluntary state-origin claims. FSIS said it will initially focus verification efforts on “Product of USA” and “Made in the USA” claims beginning in January. FSIS may issue further instructions for state-origin claims in a future revision of the directive.

In addition to the directive, FSIS provided an updated guideline for label approval designed to prevent the introduction of adulterated or misbranded products into commerce. Labeling and Program Delivery Staff (LPDS) will implement a prior label approval system for labels intended to be used on federally inspected meat, poultry and egg products, including imported products. Without approved labels, meat, poultry and egg products may not be sold, offered for sale, or otherwise distributed in commerce.

Changes from the Previous Version

This guideline, dated December 2025, replaces the previous version dated March 2024. FSIS says it will update this guideline as necessary when new information becomes available.

This version incorporates the following changes:

Adds clarification to the section “Geographic Claims on Labels.”
Adds information and examples to the section “‘Product of USA,’ ‘Made in the USA’ and Other Voluntary U.S.-Origin Claims” that provides clarification on the requirements for the voluntary U.S.-origin label claims, “Product of USA” and “Made in the USA.”
Adds information and examples to the section “Factual Claims Other than ‘Product of USA’ and ‘Made in the USA.’”
Adds an example to the section “Required Documentation to Support U.S.-Origin Claims.”
Updates Appendix 9 to provide clarification about the impact of the final rule “Voluntary Labeling of FSIS-Regulated Products with U.S.-Origin Claims” on different types of state endorsement program logos.

The guidelines also confirmed that the meaning of “raised” is from birth to slaughter, and the term “harvested” may be used to mean slaughtered. In addition, FSIS says the U.S. origin requirements do not apply to sub-ingredients.

Upcoming Webinars on the Voluntary “Product of USA” Labeling Claim

To assist industry and state partners in understanding the new requirements, FSIS plans to host two informational webinars: one for industry stakeholders and the other for state government officials.

Visit the Voluntary “Product of USA” Labeling Claim Webinars 2025 event page on the FSIS website for event details. FSIS encourages all interested establishments, state inspection program officials, and trade associations to attend the appropriate session.

Industry stakeholder webinar: Dec. 15, 1-2 p.m. ET
State government official webinar: Dec. 16, 1-2 p.m. ET

The webinars will cover updated guidance and offer an opportunity for stakeholders to ask questions. An updated guidance document will be available in the Federal Register and additional background information on the webinars will be posted to the FSIS events page next week. These materials will provide additional clarity on eligibility, documentation and compliance expectations for establishments choosing to use the revised claim.

Saying Goodbye to Dad: A Farmer’s Journey with Grief

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 20:24:01 GMT

Grief is hard. Whether it’s the loss of a loved one, a way of life, or even a dream, the pain of losing something we care about is an inevitable part of being human. However, that doesn’t make grief any easier to walk through.

On May 23, 2024, Nathan Isler lost his father, Bill, to a stroke. The man who was greater than life to him, was no longer by his side every day on their family pork and grain operation. The loss that everyone who loved him felt was undeniable.

“I don’t know how people deal with grief without faith. If you think death is just the end, it’s a hard thing to deal with,” Isler says. “For me, the toughest part is the loss of those moments where I wish he was there to talk to about things.”

In Isler’s mind, grief is more of a feeling than a definition. In the simplest of terms, he says it’s disappointment in life not going the way you want it to – not getting the answers you hoped for or not having the person you want to be there.

But grief, as painful as it feels, is also a process that can open the door to growth and resilience.

“It is impossible to live without experiencing pain at some point in our lives,” says Jorge Estrada, Global Coaching Alliance Latin America lead. “Life and pain go hand in hand. They’re part of the great dichotomies: black and white, day and night, life and death, love and pain.”

Pain isn’t an interruption to life, it’s a thread woven through it, Estrada adds. At the same time, grief isn’t a sign of weakness or failure. It’s evidence of our capacity to love deeply and to heal, even after profound loss.

Understanding Grief

“Grief hurts,” agrees Gina Forte, an expert in thanatology which is the study of death, loss and the processes that follow. “When we love someone or something, we become attached to it. The more we love, the more it hurts to lose.”

But that hurt has a purpose. Grief is an adaptive emotional process, a way to make sense of loss and find balance again, she adds. Knowing it’s a process helps people move forward.

“Perseverance is a necessity in life,” Isler says. “Life goes on. You can’t stop. You can’t lose your potential or your life. Putting my head down and getting work done – being productive – has helped me during this time.”

He says there is something healing about setting goals and pushing forward.

“Getting in your own head too much allows the grief to multiply,” Isler adds. “For me, being able to have wins and accomplish goals promotes healing.”

Forte says that’s the function of grief – to restore and heal.

“When we don’t allow ourselves to process it, grief can become unhealthy or even pathological,” she says.

From Shock to Acceptance

When loss hits, no one is ready to understand or accept it fully. The stages of grief all play a key role in the process. Forte outlined the seven stages of grief:

Grief isn’t a straight line, she says. Sometimes people circle back to the same stage again, but the visits grow shorter over time.

One day, one of Isler’s dad’s friends showed him a video of his dad swinging on a rope at a retreat not long before he passed away.

“I don’t know what, but something triggered inside me – to see that youthfulness and joy he always had,” Isler says. “It’s hard to predict what will trigger different parts of the grief process. I have found that the return to different stages gets quicker as you move on.”

On the Other Side of Loss

The resilience that emerges on the other side of loss makes us stronger people, Estrada says. In short, it’s not just surviving hardship, it’s being transformed by it.

Estrada defines resilience as the ability to navigate change, understand grief, learn, let go, and create a new reality—one that carries a better version of ourselves into the next stage of life.

“Everything you do in life changes who you are a little bit,” Isler says. “I’ve learned more about who my dad was to so many. I’ve learned not everyone has a role model like him. I hope I can live up to the example he set for my kids.”

Studies show one of the strongest predictors of resilience is having loving and supportive relationships that offer trust, encouragement and security through the grief process.

For Isler, living next door to his mom, who has been living with dementia for several years, has put him in a unique situation. Sharing stories about his dad with his mom has been especially healing.

“My mom has always been someone I could talk to easily,” Isler says. “I’ve used her as a map to put it all out there because she isn’t grieving the way the rest of us are. She knows dad isn’t around, but it doesn’t all connect for her like it does for us. When I talk about dad with her, it does nothing but bring joy to her.”

Get Off the Island

Everyone deals with grief at some point, Isler says. Maybe it’s grief from the loss of a loved one, but for farmers, grief could stem from a terrible financial situation on the farm or the loss of a business you’ve built your life around.

“For all the people who think they are alone, it’s just not the case,” he says. “We all deal with grief, and we all deal with it differently. A lot of times we put ourselves on an island – especially in our industry.”

Farmers – especially men – are some of the worst about talking about their feelings, Isler says.

“We are tough guys. We get the work done and go on,” he says. “But it helps to talk about it. Let people show up for you or go find someone to talk to if they don’t know what you are going through.”

When Isler’s sister told him that what helped her in the grief process was being around him, he was taken aback a little.

“She said I reminded her of dad and was a lot like him, that being around me made it easier not having dad around anymore,” he says. “To me, that’s the best compliment I’ve ever received.”

Bugs Beware: Next Gen Prepares to Combat Insect Threats to Animal Health

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 15:42:45 GMT

The nation is facing a critical shortage of veterinary entomologists. Kansas State University is ramping up efforts to create awareness and opportunity for students interested in playing a crucial role in safeguarding livestock health and agricultural economies by studying insects and ticks that affect animals.

“With increasing insecticide resistance and the emergence of new tick and tick-borne pathogen species, our capacity to meet future research, extension and teaching needs in this area is more critical than ever,” Cassandra Olds, assistant professor of entomology at K-State, says in a release.

To address this increasing challenge, Olds collaborated with other university veterinary entomologists to develop the Research and Extension Experience in Veterinary Entomology for Students (REEVES) program .

“Despite the significant impact arthropods like ticks and insects have on livestock production, there’s a serious lack of trained veterinary entomologists,” Olds says. “Many students simply aren’t aware of this viable career path or what it entails.”

Funded by the USDA-NIFA and led by the University of Tennessee, the 8-week summer residential program offers an immersive, hands-on experience in veterinary entomology research and extension.

“The overarching goal of REEVES is to introduce and train talented individuals for graduate and professional programs, as well as livestock-associated careers that emphasize team science,” the release says. “The program educates them on the fundamentals of veterinary entomology and provides them with real-world project experience relevant to the needs of stakeholders.”

Two scholars are placed at each participating institution each year, K-State, University of Tennessee, Texas A&M and University of Georgia, and will run from 2025 till 2028.

Not only will REEVES scholars engage in impactful research, but they will also have the opportunity to present their research at the annual Livestock Insect Workers Conference and an online REEVES Expo. For example, K-State scholars evaluated the impact of stable flies on cattle performance in feedlots this year and investigated recent outbreaks of Theileria orientalis in the region.

“For me, the most exciting aspect of this field is the chance to do good at every level,” Olds adds. “You have the opportunity to positively impact both animal health and well-being, while simultaneously improving the livelihoods of the people who own them.”

One Farmer's Idea to Avoid Yellowstone Drama When Transferring the Family Farm

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 15:15:23 GMT

At 8 cents a pound, pigs weren’t worth much when Todd Wiley formed Interstate Swine LLC with his dad in 1998. Nobody wanted weaned pigs. Facilities quickly became available as people left the pork industry. With a sincere desire to make a living raising pigs on his family’s farm, Wiley stepped out in faith. Nearly 30 years later, this multi-generational farming endeavor in eastern Iowa has survived some of the toughest times and some of the best times.

Maybe that’s why Wiley has taken a unique approach to bringing the third generation back to the farm.

“There’s no doubt that family is important to Todd,” says Pat McGonegle, CEO of the Iowa Pork Producers Association. “He puts family first, and the farm is a part of that discussion. He manages his family members that are part of that farm in a real professional way, but also with an eye towards the legacy that he and Denise want to leave on their farm.”

Would This Be Good For My Kids?

Growing up, Wiley’s parents talked about succession planning often with their three sons. The concept of planning for the generational transfer of the family farm came naturally to Wiley.

“When we started Interstate Swine, we needed to hire employees,” he says. “One of the things I was conscientious about was making sure the employment opportunity within our business would be conducive to our children filling those roles.”

From the beginning, Wiley instituted health insurance plans, matching IRA funds, paid time off, paid vacation, and other benefits that employees would typically look for when securing a job.

“I constantly asked myself if this would this be good for my kids someday?” he says.

Wiley and his wife, Denise, have four kids: Drew, a Kansas State University animal science graduate and former K-State Football defensive tackle; Isaac, an Iowa State University agribusiness graduate now employed with Ever.Ag; Emma, owner of Auntie Em’s - Event Florist and attended Des Moines Area Community College; and Joshua, a junior at Iowa State University in animal science.

In 2017-2018, the Wileys doubled their sow farm to create more opportunities for the children to have a place on the family farm.

“It was a fairly tedious process – not only from a business standpoint, but about what the next generation was going to do,” he says. “They were all too young back then, and there was no way I could ask them for any sort of commitment to our business. But I did ask a lot of professionals. I remember asking our accountant specifically, ‘In your experience, what is the likelihood of a farm family having the next generation be involved, providing you have a viable business?’”

The accountant’s response was, “It’s pretty high.”

“Denise and I knew we needed to have some economies of scale,” Wiley explains. “There’s not much point in succession planning, if there’s nothing to succeed to or succeed with. We were mindful of that when we moved forward. Now, we have room for additional people, not only for labor, but also in management where we can utilize their skills.”

No Yellowstone Drama Here

As a family, it is easy to recognize each other’s strengths as well as quirks, he points out. But he wanted a better way to evaluate his children’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as interests, on the farm.

“I remember when a successful family in eastern Iowa, with a number of businesses, built a feed mill and elevator,” Wiley shares. “The father of this family passed away unexpectedly. Come to find out, nobody in the family had any interest in this feed mill and elevator, so they end up selling it.”

This hit Wiley hard. What would his kids say about where their farm was investing capital? That sparked the construction of a succession planning instrument for the Wiley family.

(Lori Hays)

“The first page of the instrument (an Excel document) started two years ago with a list of 35 jobs that need to be done on our farm,” Wiley says. “Most of them are pig related, but we do crop farm some. It was pretty much everything I was doing in a spreadsheet.”

Each of their children (and one daughter in-law at the time) was asked to rate those 35 jobs from one to five under this scenario: It’s 2033 and Todd and Denise are serving in an advisory role only. You choose to be an active employee of the family businesses. Please answer by circling the corresponding number that best describes your interest in the listed activity.

“It was interesting to see who had interest in what, but it also told us pretty clearly where we needed to go in the future if we wanted our children involved in our business,” Wiley says. “Initially, I think they saw it as a fun activity, just another of Dad’s crazy ideas. But I learned a lot.”

This past summer, the family completed the exercise again.

“I needed to see if the kids were drifting in their interest,” he says. “In one case, there was significant movement in what one of our kids wanted to do. It surprised me to be truthful about it. In the other three cases, they held true to what they thought two years previous. But bear in mind, our youngest was a freshman in college two years ago and a lot can change in college.”

Wiley emphasizes that nobody is required to come back and be involved in the operation. He says there are a million ways to make a living out there and he wants his kids to pursue their dreams. In the version his family filled out in the summer of 2025, he added a second page with 45 statements.

“If you’re going to work with people in a business and a family in any organization, even if you’re not related, you need to have some idea of where they’re coming from,” Wiley says. “On the second page of statements, they were asked to rank their level of agreement with the statement.”

For example, one of the statements was: No matter what I may think of a family member’s job performance, I’ll always have their back publicly.

“If you’ve ever watched Yellowstone, that show creeped me out,” Wiley says. “When I saw the family dynamic portrayed, it made me uncomfortable. We can have our disagreements. But, as a family, you better have each other’s backs out in the community, especially in the business we’re in.”

Getting Out and Getting In

This instrument has been helpful for the Wileys in many ways as they prepare to transfer more of the farm to their children.

“It sheds light on areas where their belief system parallels ours,” he says. “We have a definite place of emphasis now. Our children have a pig feeding business called Fourth Gen Hogs LLC, where they’re each 20% owners, Denise is a 10% owner, and I’m a 10% owner. It has been a great exercise in giving them the responsibility of ownership.”

He says the timing mirrors the situation he was in when Interstate Swine was formed.

“They got in about a year ago when it was pretty doom and gloom. We went to the bank with this idea, and they’re like, ‘You want to do what?’”

He believes this business venture will be the vehicle for he and his wife to exit pig ownership as their children get into ownership.

“Uncle Sam would have his way with us if we sold out all at once,” Wiley says. “But if we can gradually exit individual barns or individual parts of our production flow and have them enter into it, that’s a fairly nice segue for us to get out and them to get in.”

Wiley shares more about his mini adventure raising rabbits, opportunities for talented young people back on the farm and the message he hopes pork producers hear right now and more on The PORK Podcast. You can watch it here on YouTube or listen anywhere podcasts are found.

Watch more episodes here.

Pork Exports Remain Strong in August; Beef Decline Continues

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 18:21:39 GMT

USDA has released August red meat export data, which was delayed due to the lengthy government shutdown. As compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), August data showed a relatively strong performance for U.S. pork exports. But beef exports were sharply lower than a year ago, impacted heavily by an impasse with China that has effectively locked U.S. beef out of the world’s largest import market.

August pork exports totaled 236,311 metric tons (mt), down 1% from a year ago, valued at $685.9 million (down 2%). August exports were bolstered by another remarkable performance by leading market Mexico, where shipments climbed 8% from a year ago to 102,790 mt, the fifth largest volume on record. Export value reached $252.3 million, up 9% and the second highest on record, trailing only December 2024.

For January through August, pork exports were 3% below last year’s record pace in both volume (1.93 million mt) and value ($5.48 billion). This gap is mostly attributable to lower exports to China, where U.S. pork faces retaliatory tariffs. This situation was especially disruptive in the spring months, when tariffs imposed by the U.S. and China temporarily escalated and there was growing uncertainty about the continued eligibility of U.S. plants. While this situation has since stabilized, China’s total tariff on U.S. pork and most pork variety meat had been 57% until Nov. 10, when it was reduced to 47%.

August beef exports totaled 83,388 mt, down 19% from a year ago and the lowest since June 2020. Export value fell 18% to $695.5 million, the lowest since February 2021. While exports to China plummeted, shipments were fairly steady to leading market South Korea and trended higher than a year ago to the Caribbean and Central and South America.

For January through August, beef exports were 9.5% below last year at 775,188 mt, while value declined 9% to $6.37 billion.

Mexico and Central America continue to shine for U.S. pork

Pork exports to Mexico continue to reach new heights in 2025, with January-August shipments climbing 3% above last year’s record pace in volume (781,605 mt) and 6% higher in value ($1.78 billion). The leading destination for U.S. pork is increasingly competitive, with Brazil’s pork shipments to Mexico (through October) increasing 64% from a year ago to nearly 64,000 mt. However, Brazil still captured less than 5% market share, while U.S. market share is about 80%.

August pork exports to Central America also trended higher, keeping shipments to the region on a record pace. Through August, pork exports to Central America totaled 118,257 mt, up 22% from last year’s record. Value soared 25% to $377.5 million, led by robust growth in Honduras, Guatemala and Costa Rica.

Pork exports to Colombia took a step back in August, falling 29% from last year’s very robust totals in both volume (9,418 mt) and value ($28 million). But January-August shipments to Colombia were still on a record pace, increasing 9% to 85,707 mt, valued at $245.4 million (up 11%).

Among other markets, August pork exports trended higher than a year ago to Korea, the Caribbean, Australia and the Philippines. Shipments were below last year to China, Japan, Canada, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Pork export value equated to $67.74 per head slaughtered in August, up 5% from a year ago, while the January-August average was $65.55 per head, down 1%. Exports accounted for 31% of total August pork production, up two full percentage points from a year ago. For muscle cuts only, the ratio exported was about one percentage point higher at 26.3%. For January through August, exports accounted for just under 30% of total production, down slightly from a year ago. The ratio of muscle cuts exported was steady at 26.1%.

Some bright spots for beef, but impasse with China weighs heavily on exports

With U.S. beef facing a multi-layered lockout in China, export results have worsened throughout 2025 as supplies of eligible product were depleted and more plants were suspended in June and August. Exports sank to just 862 mt in August, down 94% from a year ago. For January through August, exports to China were 52% below last year in volume (56,494 mt) and 53% lower in value ($484.2 million). The accumulated decline in exports for January through October is estimated at $832 million, as September and October exports are also certain to be minimal. As USMEF has previously reported, China has failed to renew registrations for the vast majority of U.S. beef plants and cold storage facilities. But renewing these registrations is just one of the steps necessary to restore access for U.S. beef in China, where 16 U.S. plants have been suspended since June and 30 facilities have been suspended since 2022. For China to return to its commitments under the U.S.-China Phase One Agreement, it must address all of the barriers obstructing access for U.S. beef.

August beef exports to leading market Korea were slightly below last year in volume, falling 1.5% to 16,823 mt. But export value still increased 3% to $168 million. For January through August, exports to Korea increased 8% from a year ago in volume (162,907 mt) and 9% in value ($1.55 billion).

Beef exports to Central America posted another strong performance in August, climbing 5% from a year ago to 1,512 mt, while value soared 50% to $17 million. Led by robust growth in Guatemala and Costa Rica, January-August beef exports to the region are on a record pace, reaching 14,520 mt, up 6% from a year ago, while value climbed 34% to $134.2 million.

Among other markets, August beef exports trended higher than a year ago to the Caribbean region, led by growth in the Dominican Republic, Bahamas and Jamaica, and to South America, led by growth in Chile (where exports have been above year-ago levels in each of the past six months) and a rebound in Colombia. Exports were also higher to Hong Kong, the Philippines, Vietnam, Europe and Morocco, but trended lower to Japan, Mexico, Canada, Taiwan and the Middle East.

Beef export value equated to $372.10 per head of fed slaughter in August, down 5% from a year ago. The January-August average was $400.16 per head, down 3.5% from the same period last year. Exports accounted for 12.1% of total August beef production and 9.8% for muscle cuts only – each down about one percentage point from a year ago. The January-August ratios were 13.1% of total production and 11% for muscle cuts, down from 13.9% and 11.6%, respectively, during the same period last year.

Full January-August export results for U.S. pork, beef and lamb are available from USMEF’s statistics web page .

Oikonomia on the Farm: Succession Planning is About More Than Wealth

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 14:57:19 GMT

Succession planning is often treated as a legal or financial exercise — a “simple” matter of wills, taxes and transfer dates. Yet for family-owned farms and agribusinesses, it’s something deeper: the deliberate handoff of a way of life.

The ancient Greeks had a word for this kind of management, oikonomia, from which we get the term economy. Understanding what they meant by it can reorient how families think about preparing the next generation.

In classical thought, oikonomia referred to the management of the oikos, the household or estate, but it was never only about efficiency or profit. The oikonomos, or household steward, was responsible for using resources wisely so the entire household could live well and endure long into the future.

Ancient philosophers viewed resources as abundant, not scarce, so economic action was judged not by the accumulation of wealth but by whether it enabled and served a praiseworthy end. Specifically, the flourishing of the family, the land and the community.

Perspective for the Present

That older vision aligns closely with what succession planning should be for agriculture. The task is not just to pass on land and assets, but to ensure the continuity of stewardship, the ethical responsibility to care for what has been entrusted.

From an oikonomia perspective, the senior generation’s goal is to prepare successors capable of managing abundance with restraint, gratitude and wisdom. This calls attention to the education of character. The next generation must learn more than production and finance; they must learn judgment, the ability to distinguish needs from wants and to act for the common good. Mentorship, gradual transfer of responsibility, and open discussion of values all form part of this ethical training.

Perhaps most importantly, oikonomia reminds us that a farm is both a business and a household. Financial plans that ignore family dynamics or the moral vision of the enterprise risk undermining the very legacy they seek to protect.

Succession planning works best when it integrates three elements at once: the technical (who owns and manages what), the relational (how the family communicates and cooperates) and the moral (why the farm exists and whom it serves).

In that light, passing the farm to the next generation becomes not just a transaction but an act of stewardship — a modern form of oikonomia. The question is no longer only how do we divide the assets but how do we preserve the household, the land and the purpose they represent for future generations?

New Animal Activism Reports Released: Activists Connect in the Courtroom

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 17:42:28 GMT

As part of the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s mission to safeguard the future of animal agriculture, we work to make sure that farm and food communities have all the facts about what animal activist groups are really working toward. That’s why we’ve recently released two new reports that break down the strategic coordination and funding behind these organizations.

The first report, “ Radical Vegan Activism ,” looks back at statistics from 2024 to show the tactics, targets and driving ideologies of key players within the movement. The numbers tell an important story, with nearly one-quarter of all documented activist attacks focusing on farms and food businesses. It is of note that research institutions were reported to be the most targeted overall. When it comes to agriculture, documented actions included vandalism (59 incidents), animal theft or release (43 cases) and trespassing (31 cases).

The second report, the “ Major Animal Activist Groups Web ,” outlines the connections between well-known organizations based on staffing, funding and project collaboration.

While some of these groups have a more public-facing presence — such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) or Humane World for Animals (formerly Humane Society of the United States) — and often engage with the public and are seen on television commercials, others are working behind the scenes pushing legislation that is unfavorable to agriculture and, even in some cases, stealing animals from farms and facilities. The point of the “Major Animal Activist Groups Web” is to show that though groups may differ on how they get their point across, they are all working together in some ways to push for changes in modern animal agriculture that drive up the cost of production and threaten the availability of animal-sourced protein.

The web is updated annually with the inclusion of new connections and organizations. A key theme identified in this latest update was a focus on legal collaboration between groups. For example, Animal Activist Legal Defense Project is working to appeal a 2023 felony conviction of Wayne Hsiung , founder of Direct Action Everywhere and Simple Heart Initiative (a new addition to the web this year after holding an “animal rescue” event in Washington, D.C., this past March). Other legal focused groups recently added include The Brooks Institute and Legal Impact for Chickens.

The groups highlighted in this report represent a fraction of the activist landscape, yet together, based on the latest publicly available financial information, pull in more than $865 million a year — a significant jump from $800 million last year. As funding for activism grows, it’s more important than ever for those of us in the farm and food community to share our own stories. If we don’t speak up about what really happens on farms, we risk letting activist groups tell that story for us.

Want to learn more about protecting your farm or business from potential activist threats? Visit the Alliance website for more resources and information on proactive security measures.

Read more:
Jury Rejects ‘Rescue’ Defense: DxE Extremist Zoe Rosenberg Found Guilty in Chicken Heist

Updates to Livestock Risk Protection Insurance Give Producers More Flexibility

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 13:34:47 GMT

Livestock producers now have more flexibility under recent updates to USDA’s Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) program, which helps safeguard against unexpected price declines in feeder cattle, fed cattle and swine markets, says Jacob Hefley, University of Missouri Extension field specialist in agricultural business.

LRP is a federally administered insurance program that allows producers to establish a price floor for their livestock while still benefiting from potential market gains. Policies are sold year-round through approved insurance agents and are designed to provide peace of mind in volatile markets.

Examples of the new changes include expanded eligibility for forward-contracted animals, new coverage options for cull dairy cows marketed for beef and a drought hardship exemption that allows feeder cattle sold early to remain eligible for indemnity when qualifying drought conditions occur. These updates expand how LRP can be used and make coverage more applicable to a wider range of production situations.

MU Extension has updated its publication “Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) Insurance” to reflect the most recent program changes. The revised guide walks through how LRP works, outlines current coverage details and provides step-by-step examples of how premiums and indemnities are calculated.

“The goal of the guide is to make complicated program easier to understand,” says Hefley. “It’s a resource for producers who want to better understand how LRP coverage works and how to evaluate it as part of their marketing decisions.”

The updated “Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) Insurance” guide is available free online .

Don't Break, Build: A Farmer's Playbook for Taking Control of Your Mind

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 19:02:19 GMT

It was already shaping up to be one of those days.

An unexpected bill is due, and the money just isn’t there. The kids are fighting again. Understandably, your wife is over it, and now it’s your fault. One of your employees just called to say the new group of wean pigs is sick. It’s all a part of a life, but sometimes it just stacks up to be too much.

“In a world of unpredictability with so many factors at play on any given day, it’s easy to be mentally or emotionally hijacked by elements out of our control,” says Athena Diesch-Chham with Restorative Path Counseling and Wellbeing. “Stress and anxiety thrive in this environment. However, the long-term effects of that are real.”

Farming stress will never go away, so how can you get more grit or become more resilient to that stress?

One expert says it starts by paying attention to the present.

“Don’t think about what happened yesterday or worry about what is happening tomorrow,” says Cheri Burcham, with University of Illinois Extension. “Focus on what you are doing and feeling in the very moment.”

Diesch-Chham likes to think of it as “being where your feet are.”

“So often brains are hijacked by stress and launch us mentally to a different space either in the past or in the future,” Diesch-Chham adds. “Mindfulness is just asking for our whole selves to be here in this moment, wherever our feet are planted.”

Pay Attention

This concept of truly being “in the moment” not only reduces stress, but research shows it can also lower blood pressure, increase immunity and reduce anxiety and depression, Burcham says.

When you intentionally notice where you are, you can recognize potential challenges sooner, says Abigail Cudney with Michigan State University Extension . Instead of habitually reacting to stress with intense anger, emotional shutdown, negative thinking or overthinking, this intentional awareness helps rewire the brain through a process called neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to grow and adapt to new experiences.

Consider the attention you pay when walking through the barn. You use all your senses to make assessments and determine what’s going on all around you.

“Whether it’s walking the barn or enjoying the fall scenery, naming something you are currently experiencing for each of the five senses is another way to practice mindfulness,” Diesch-Chham says. “This doesn’t have to be complicated – the whole goal is to bring mind and body to the same place.”

5 Senses Technique

Just Breathe

The fight or flight response animals have when stress strikes is the same thing that happens in people. As a review, the vagus nerve, which runs from the base of the brain and branches out to the organs, serves as a conduit of chemicals/hormones that are activated automatically/reflexively by the sympathetic nervous system. This is an involuntary and adaptive process that increases respiration and blood flow to prepare the body for quick and protective action, such as fighting or fleeing. Once the perceived threat has passed or been managed successfully, the stress response also passes and respiration, blood pressure, and heart rate return to a normal steady state, according to the Yale School of Medicine .

Through deep breathing, the vagus nerve can be stimulated intentionally to help restore, mitigate and even prevent these physical and psychological reactions. Slow, even breaths that originate deep within the abdomen stimulate the vagus nerve in a way that signals safety and cues the body and mind to relax, restore, and release chronic and unhealthy patterns.

“Deep breathing can be practiced anywhere and in so many ways – so it is very accessible and easy for farmers to practice,” Burcham explains. “Practice in the field or even while operating machinery.”

Let Go of What You Can’t Control

Perhaps one of the biggest advantages of “being where your feet are” is realizing you can’t control it all.

“Working towards recognizing what truly is within our individual control and then choosing to focus our energy on managing what we can control to improve our overall mental health and stress, helps us remain resilient through the pieces that are outside of our control,” Diesch-Chham says.

Adversity happens. Markets will crash. Animals will get sick. Disease will strike. Families will argue. But you can recover faster from those stresses by staying grounded in the moment, aligning your thoughts and emotions with reality.

Resources to Help Build Resilience:
North Central Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Center

Mindfulness: University of Illinois Extension

Building Resilience with Mindfulness

Smithfield Foods' Quarterly Sales, Profit Rise on Steady Demand for Meat

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 13:24:29 GMT

Smithfield Foods, the biggest U.S. pork processor, reported increased quarterly revenue and profits on Tuesday as sales prices climbed.

The company, a majority-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-based WH Group 0288.HK, raised the midpoint of its annual profit forecast range, sending its shares up 2.7% in early trading.

Smithfield said average sales prices for its packaged meat, including bacon, sausage and hot dogs, climbed 9.2%, while prices for its fresh pork products jumped 12% due to lower U.S. production and strong demand from consumers. Sales volumes were steady, according to the company.

The company, which owns some hogs and buys others to process, has seen higher hog prices, CEO Shane Smith told analysts on a conference call.

TOTAL SALES UP 12.4%

The U.S. hog herd was 1% smaller at the start of September, compared with a year earlier, according to U.S. government data.

“The increase in average sales price was primarily due to higher raw material costs,” Smithfield said in a regulatory filing.

Smithfield’s total sales increased 12.4% to $3.75 billion in the quarter ended September 28, compared with a year earlier. It earned quarterly profit of 58 cents per share on an adjusted basis from continuing operations, compared with 53 cents a year earlier.

The meatpacker raised its outlook for annual adjusted operating profit between $1.23 billion and $1.33 billion, compared with its prior forecast of $1.15 billion to $1.35 billion.

OPERATING PROFIT DOWN 5.7%

Smithfield has sought to rein in expenses amid rising raw material costs and cautious consumer spending. It closed a U.S. sausage plant and eliminated jobs this year.

Operating profit in its largest packaged meats segment fell 5.7% in the quarter, while profits in the fresh pork division dropped about 64%.

Reduced U.S. exports of certain byproducts to China limited gains in Smithfield’s average sales prices for fresh pork, according to the company.

Most products that Smithfield ships to China, the world’s biggest pork consumer, were subject to 57% tariff rates in the quarter, according to the company.

“Fresh pork has been navigating a challenging tariff environment,” Smith said.

Investors expect U.S. President Donald Trump to reach a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday to cool their trade conflict.

Smithfield previously said it does not export material amounts of meat to China, but ships offal products, such as pig stomachs, hearts and heads, which U.S. consumers generally do not buy.

(Reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru and Tom Polansek in Chicago; Editing by Shreya Biswas and David Holmes)

Plan for Now, Adjust Later: Create Your Estate Plan Before It's Too Late

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 13:55:52 GMT

Nobody wants to think about death, but it’s something Polly Dobbs, an estate planning and wealth transfer attorney with Dobbs Legal Group LLC, thinks about every day.

“When I was a new lawyer, I was so nervous to say dead or death,” Dobbs recalls. “I was in a meeting with a partner and his client once when I stumbled over something and said, ‘in the unfortunate event you should pass away.’ After that meeting, the partner yanked me out in the hallway and said, ‘Stop stuttering. Just say when you die. It’s not if, it’s when.’”

She’s been dealing in death ever since, but she says that perspective allows her to serve her clients better.

“What if you got hit by a bus tomorrow?” Dobbs asks. “You should have a plan in place that fits today’s circumstances. If your grandson is playing with John Deere toys in the sandbox, let’s not create a succession plan that hinges on that grandson coming back to farm. Let’s have a plan in place that fits right now, in case you die tomorrow. If you don’t die and you get to see how those grandkids turn out and which direction their lives take, you can adjust that plan.”

People often think they can figure out their estate plan later – when they are older, richer, sicker, free from debt and the list goes on.

“Too often, people don’t have a plan, and they end up dying before they’ve got it just how they want it,” Dobbs says. “Have something that fits for today and dust it off as needed.”

What Should Drive Decisions?

When it comes to estate planning, Dobbs says there is no cookie-cutter-approach.

“You can’t copy what your neighbor did,” she says. “It has to be customized for your family, your facts, your assets, your goals, your family members and your farm.”

She often challenges farmers with tough questions like should your off-farm kids get bought out?

“Should they get bought out of equipment, improvements, grain bins, shops, shed and all of the silver things that we build on top of gravel lots to use in production agriculture?” she asks. “Do you feel like your off-farm heirs are entitled to a share of these operating assets? If so, fine. If not, that’s OK, too.”

Part of what Dobbs does is give permission to people to treat their children differently and to define their children’s inheritance.

“It’s not necessarily one quick check after an auction after your funeral,” she points out. “It is absolutely fine to treat your children differently. I preach over and over again that fair does not mean equal. There is no law that says the columns for your children must tally to the penny and be exactly equal with the assets they receive at your death. You’re aiming for a fair balance, and you define what is fair.”

Ultimately, she says, it comes down to peace of mind when you lay your head on the pillow. Do you have a fair plan in place?

Talk Now, Don’t Wait

Communicating the estate plan during your lifetime is very important, but it’s often the step that farmers fail to complete. She says transparency helps avoid entitlement.

“When someone thinks they’re going to get a certain amount of the value of your assets, they’re already calculating it and counting on it,” she says. “After your death, if the plan is different, that’s when the entitlement rears its head.”

She emphasizes the details must be defined by the farmer.

“A lot of my clients would rather put their head down and have the plan unveiled after death,” Dobbs says. “I understand that’s challenging. But it’s far better to have transparency and throw everything out on the conference room table so you can shine a light on it and talk about it.”

In addition to getting all the family in the room, Dobbs believes there should be more than one adviser at the table at a time.

“This is how you get the best plan, and you will always have a better plan if your advisers speak to each other,” she adds. “There is this falsehood out there that you need to stop your lawyer from talking to your accountant because that means they’re both charging you at the same time. I promise it will always be cheaper in the end, and a better plan, if your advisers talk to each other.”

Touchy Subjects

One of the sensitive subjects many farmers are dealing with today is the issue of sweat equity and treating it like deferred compensation, she says.

“When we have a successor coming in, depending on how long that successor has been working side by side with the senior generation, they’ve earned something,” Dobbs says. “We’re not talking about giving them a handout. If we give them a discounted price, or we give them assets off the top as a part of the succession plan or part of the estate plan, that’s not a handout.”

Deferred compensation says that if a young person had gone to work in a factory right out of school, they would be earning and investing in a 401K or perhaps stock compensation. They probably would have health insurance and HSA accounts that most family farms just don’t have, she explains.

“When the senior generation is putting together their succession and estate plan, consider the benefits the successor gave up by not working off farm,” she says. “Having some sort of benefit, discounts, family-friendly terms in the succession plan and in the estate plan should be considered deferred compensation.”

Read More:
Tax Acts and Estate Plans: What You Need to Know About the Changes for 2026

Tax Acts and Estate Plans: What You Need to Know About the Changes for 2026

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 16:46:28 GMT

Taxes don’t destroy family farms – people do, says Polly Dobbs, an estate planning and wealth transfer specialist.

“It’s not Uncle Sam – it’s your third wife and your kids from your first two wives, it’s your kids in the city versus your kids on the farm, and it’s ultimately your failure to plan for all that because you don’t want to hurt somebody’s feelings,” she explains. “It’s very lazy to say that taxes ruin the farm. That’s rarely the case.”

All the details matter, says Dobbs with Dobbs Legal Group LLC. She doesn’t believe in sugarcoating the hard truth. That’s why she’s devoted her career to helping farm families navigate estate planning and wealth transfer.

A “Permanent” Estate Tax

On July 4, President Donald Trump signed into effect the One Big Beautiful Bill, which has a significant effect on federal taxes, credits and deductions.

When it comes to gift and estate taxes, Dobbs points out a big change under the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) section.

“The new exemption as of Jan. 1, 2026, will be $15 million per person, or $30 million for a married couple,” she said at the Keystone Cooperatives Co-op Classic in Valparaiso, Ind. “It is one exemption. You either use it during your lifetime to make gifts, or you have it available at death to shield inheritances. You don’t get two.”

This is an increase from $13,990,000 per person in 2025, and a welcome relief from the anticipated “drop off the cliff to around $7 million per person that was looming,” Dobbs adds.

Unlike the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act from 2017, she says the exemption is considered permanent in that it doesn’t have a “self-destruct, sunset date.” However, she warns farmers not to get too excited about the “permanent tax act” because any future Congress and President can change any law on the books.

The new exemption will be indexed to inflation, she adds, and with adjustments made Jan. 1 every year beginning in 2027. IRS recently announced the tax year 2026 annual inflation adjustments for more than 60 tax provisions, including the income tax rate schedules and other tax changes. The annual gift tax exclusion will remain $19,000 in 2026, unchanged from 2025, which is the amount each donor can give to each recipient, without tapping into his or her big exemption.

“During the fourth quarter of every year, we’ll get inflation numbers, and we will know what the new exemption is going to be the following January,” Dobbs says. “It is nice to know there’s no ticking clock on this tax act. We can stop worrying about this dreaded sunset that was to happen at the end of 2025. The fact they got ahead of this and did it in July of 2025 is a gift.”

Dobbs has been working in gift and estate tax laws for 25 years and says there has never once been a permanent tax act.

“This is important information,” she says. “But that’s the caboose. It is not the engine that should be driving the decision making about the farm’s succession and estate planning. Family goals come first.”