Meat
A Kansas State agricultural economist explains how resilient consumer demand is outweighing supply constraints to drive market profitability.
Protein is back on top. Ground beef might be the quiet winner, with imports doing the heavy lifting.
Oklahoma State’s Peel says increased beef imports are the expected market response to declining U.S. beef production, especially decreased production of nonfed processing beef.
Imagine the media, special interest groups and politicians get their way.
While U.S. beef production fell 3.9% to 11.8 million tons in 2025, Brazil’s beef production surprisingly increased. Rabobank, for example, expected a decline, but now sees 0.5% growth to 12.5 million tons carcass weight equivalent in Brazil.
Cattle producers and industry leaders share their concerns as the calendar advances to 2026.
Texas A&M’s Anderson summarizes meat production numbers for 2025.
Today’s concentration is real, but it’s not the same beast as early 1900s concentration because the governance environment is radically different: stronger safety laws, stronger enforcement, more transparency, more consequences.
A South Dakota cattle producer explains how checkoff funds are being used to reach consumers who eat less beef, have questions about how it’s raised or live in regions where beef demand has room to grow.
Terrain’s Dave Weaber says placements of cattle into feedlots will continue to shrink, long-feared beef slaughter capacity reductions have arrived, and the beef cow herd hasn’t begun to expand.
Quarterback Josh Allen and Hailee Steinfeld deliver a substantial protein surprise to the Bills’ offensive line, fueling them for success.
A career of dedication to science, industry service and empowering young producers.
Swift Beef Co. plans to close its case-ready facility in Riverside, Calif., effective Feb. 2.
Establishments using a U.S.-origin claim on FSIS-regulated products will need to provide access to documentation demonstrating how the product meets regulatory criteria. FSIS also updated guidelines for label approval.
Officials say 400-plus beef establishments were not relisted by China back in April.
The company’s Fort Morgan plant employees are benefiting from its innovative housing investment.
Foreign-controlled packers are on trial to determine if their ability to own U.S. plants and import product from affiliated foreign operations allows them to shape domestic prices and supply to the detriment of U.S. producers and consumers.
The announcement to close the Lexington, Neb., plant and transition to one shift in Amarillo shocked the beef industry. While local impacts will be significant, analysts urge producers to remain calm as the market fundamentals steady following the reaction.
While the administration makes comments regarding strategies to decrease retail beef prices, they strategies inconsistent with the economics of the cattle industry, particularly when U.S. consumer beef demand has been a significant driver to beef prices.
The company will end operations in early 2026 in the plant that employs nearly 3,200 people and can slaughter almost 5,000 cattle a day and convert its Amarillo, Texas, beef facility to a single, full-capacity shift.
Were beef price spikes the product of an agreement between meatpackers rather than the predictable result of herd cycles, external events and plant utilization?
Strong demand supports beef prices amid economic volatility, but herd investment and growth slows as producers grapple with increasing uncertainty due to political noise.
Texas A&M’s David Anderson breaks down the current cull cow market and shares his prediction for future cow prices.
Cattle market fundamentals remain unchanged while psychology shifts the market due to the President’s comments and industry interference.
Customers crave the quality and consistency of U.S. pork, beef and lamb. That is helping the industry overcome market challenges, explained USMEF’s Dan Halstrom at the USMEF Conference in Indianapolis.
Oklahoma State’s Derrell Peel says the beef industry needs time — not politics or policy — to solve beef supply and demand realities.