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Next Generation Teamwork: Team USA Blue and Red Dominate World Competition

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 14:30:20 GMT

“The cattle industry is not only about genetics or performance but about people who care deeply about preserving tradition, improving beef cattle and helping one another succeed,” explains Tar Tut, from Bells, Texas.

Tut was one of 44 young cattle producers from around the world who competed in the Young Breeders Competition, hosted in conjunction with the World Hereford Conference (WHC), hosted in Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 19-25.

“There are moments in life that are hard to put into words, and representing Team USA Red at the 2025 World Hereford Conference is one of them,” Tut says. “I have been part of plenty of shows, contests and events over the years, but nothing compared to standing shoulder to shoulder with breeders from across the globe, all connected by one shared passion for Hereford cattle.”

Much of the YBC was hosted at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan., before traveling to Kansas City for the WHC and remaining competition, which concluded with a team fitting and showmanship contest at the American Royal.

“Getting to meet the different teams from the around the world was without question one biggest highlights of the whole competition,” says Jacob Johnson, a member of the USA Blue Team from Ruth, Miss. “They were incredible people to get to know.”

Grand Champion Individual: Jacob Johnson, Ruth, Miss., from Team USA Blue, and Reserve Grand Champion Individual: Dylan Kottkamp, Clayton, Ind., from Team USA Red.

(American Hereford Assn.)

Johnson earned the grand champion individual title.

Fellow Blue Team member Trevor Johson from Centerville, S.D., add:, “The competition was a world-class event, and though it was challenging and intense, it was so rewarding to compete amongst the globe’s most talented young Hereford enthusiasts. The contest was also incredibly thought-provoking and stimulating. This exposure provided me better insight to global production practices, what drives value in the beef supply chain around the world and how we as the next generation of Hereford breeders may work together to ensure our breed and our industry’s future.”

Participating countries select their YBC teams, which are comprised of four members, ages 18 to 26. This year’s competition features 11 teams from seven countries, including two from the U.S.

“Competing in the Young Breeders Contest during the World Hereford Conference was absolutely an eye-opening experience for me,” says Logan Topp, a member of the USA Blue Team from Grace City, N.D. “To be able to connect with breeders from across the world, compete against some of the most progressive cattlemen my age and learn along the way was an absolute blessing. The competition was challenging to say the least, but to see the amount of skill and knowledge presented across the board no matter the country really makes me feel good about the next generation of Hereford breeders. They are truly some of the most forward-thinking people I have ever met.”

Team Blue was named grand champion team. Pictured (l to r) are Logan Topp, Grace City, N.D.; Blake Bruns, North Platte, Neb.; Jacob Johnson, Ruth, Miss.; and Trevor Johnson, Centerville, S.D.

(Topp Herefords)

As the scores were tallied, the two teams from the U.S. took the Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion honors.

“There’s no words to truly describe the honor of competing on a young breeders team and just the feeling of being surrounded by elite breeders from across the world,” says Ralston Braden, a member of the USA Red Team from Kearney, Neb. “It was wonderful to learn how young breeders from across the globe are selecting genetics, running cattle from a herd health management and marketing standpoint, and how they are progressing our breed in the beef industry as a whole.”

Reserve Grand Champion Team: Team USA — Red with team members JW Cox, Flemingsburg, Ky.; Tar Tut, Bells, Texas, Dylan Kottkamp, Clayton, Ind.; and Ralston Braden, Kearney, Neb.;

(American Hereford Assn.)

The Contest

“Growing up competing in a variety of different competitive youth events, I have been challenged in many different ways, but the Young Breeders Competition took that to a whole new level of toughness and challenge for all the contests we participated in,” says Blake Bruns, a member of the USA Blue Team from North Platte, Neb.

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The competition included six sections.

Industry Practicums and Hereford Bowl: This module included three parts — Herd Health and Animal Handling, Cattle Scoring Practicum and Nutrition Challenge, plus the results of the Hereford Bowl (quiz bowl).
Meat Animal Evaluation
Livestock Judging Competition
Communications Challenge: Teams were asked to work together on a presentation about Hereford genetics and the beef industry
Team Fitting Contest
Showmanship Contest

“Each competition tested a different skill set, from technical knowledge and reasoning ability to teamwork, composure and attention to detail,” explains Tut, who was a member of the USA Red Team.

“One of the contests we had to do was a communication challenge, where we had to describe four bulls and tell how they would be used in operations within our respective counties,” Johnson adds. “It was awesome getting to listen to the different teams and how they would utilize the bulls within their counties.”

Tuesday evening the participants enjoyed a visit to Springhill Herefords, Blue Rapids, Kan.

(American Hereford Assn.)

Much More than Banners and Buckles

“I believe we quickly learned just how important it was to be able to network and talk with all the producers and young breeders from across the world. I confidently would say that was by far the most rewarding part of the whole trip,” says Dylan Kottkamp, a member of the USA red team from Clayton, Ind. “Other than Canada, the way we raise cattle in America is night and day compared to many places across the globe. Learning and seeing how other countries operate, what they have to breed for, and why their cattle look the way they do created many educational conversations and grew an appreciation amongst everyone as a whole. It was a lot of fun to compare and grow together as producers.”

Kottkamp won the showmanship division as was reserve overall individual in the competition.

“Getting to tour operations and visit with people from the U.S. as well as all across the globe was an experience second to none,” says JW Cox, a member of the USA Red Team from Flemingsburg, Ky. “I am extremely grateful for this opportunity to compete, learn and connect.”

“I came home with a full heart, lifelong friendships and a deeper appreciation for what it means to be part of the Hereford family,” Tut says. “The Young Breeders Competition was not just a contest; it was a reminder of why we do what we do and who we get to do it with. This experience reignited my passion for the Hereford breed and the people behind it. I left feeling proud, humbled and more motivated than ever to keep growing both as a cattleman and as a person.”

USMEF Looks At Red Meat Trade Opportunities With Mexico, Canada and the United Kingdom

Tue, 07 Jan 2025 21:39:25 GMT

With a new presidential administration set to take over leadership this month, what new opportunities might be available for red meat exports? Erin Borror, U.S. Meat Export Federation Vice President of Economic Analysis, says there are two areas of interest.

First, the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) will be reviewed in 2026 and Borror says we need to maintain tariff-free trade with the two key trading partners with little barriers. Secondly, she sees potential with the United Kingdom as there were free trade agreement attempts with the previous Trump administration.

“The UK is the only major importer of which the U.S. has basically no market share, and it’s a one-way street with trade,” Borror explains. “We actually lost access through Brexit. We lost our duty-free access because the high-quality beef quota stayed with Europe.”

Borror sees nothing but opportunities for U.S. red meat exports to the UK.

“We have basically no access into the UK for U.S. beef, and that’s a $2 billion market, of which we’re essentially out of,” she says.

She adds there is tremendous potential on the pork side as well, noting the UK imports 630,000 tons of pork a year, about $2.8 billion, but U.S. pork is hardly there.

“We just need reciprocal access,” she says. “We need no tariffs, no quotas. The UK benefits from practically unfettered access into the U.S., and we need the same into the UK.”

Borror remains hopeful for the coming year.

“The UK could be one of those markets where there should see further opportunities for U.S. agriculture, and certainly for U.S. red meat,” she says.

Your next read: Mexican Border is Expected to Open for Feeder Cattle Week of Jan. 20, Sources Say

Which Foreign Country Owns the Most Farmland in the U.S.? Hint: It's Not China

Thu, 11 Jan 2024 17:24:37 GMT

Controversy continues to grow across the U.S., and China is the primary target of the new rules. However, China doesn’t own the most farmland in the U.S., according to a new USDA report. It’s actually Canada, which accounts for 32%, or 14.2 million acres.

Rounding out the top five are the Netherlands at 12%, Italy at 6%, the United Kingdom at 6% and Germany at 5%. Together, citizens in those countries hold 13 million acres, or 29%, of the foreign-held acres in the U.S. China owns less than 1%, or 349,442 acres.

(Farm Journal)

All told, 43.4 million acres of forest and farmland in the U.S., or 3.4% of all ag land, is foreign owned as of Dec. 31, 2022. Roughly 30 million of those acres are reported as foreign-owned, with the remainder primarily under a 10-year-or-longer lease. Of the 30 million, 66% is owner-operated, 14% has a tenant or sharecropper as the producer and 12% report a manager other than the owner or a tenant/sharecropper as producer. The remaining 7% are “NA.”

USDA says the two biggest Chinese-owned companies with land holdings in the U.S. are Brazos Highland and Murphy Brown LLC, which owns Smithfield Foods. Brazos Highland reported owning 102,345 acres, and Smithfield owns 97,975 acres.

(Farm Journal)

The top five states with the largest Chinese holdings are:

Texas at 162,167 acres
North Carolina at 44,776 acres
Missouri at 43,071 acres
Utah at 32,447 acres
Virginia at 14,382 acres

USDA reports those five states combined account for 85% of China’s farmland ownership. In Texas, USDA reports China has long-term leases associated with wind energy, and in North Carolina and Missouri, ownership is tied to Smithfield and producers who contract for pork production.

More States to Take Up Possible Bans in 2024

Foreign-held farmland has become a hot button topic on Capitol Hill. Farm Journal Washington correspondent Jim Wiesemeyer thinks it will continue to gain momentum in 2024 as a political ploy used by candidates.

“It’s an emotional issue, and it’s not a simple issue either,” Wiesemeyer says. “I was recently in Missouri, and some commodity leaders worry about the negative consequences of going too far. No one’s saying China should not be watched relative to buying farmland near airports, national security is involved in that case, but more than a few farmers are looking at the potential downsides for pork producers who contract with Smithfield and the number of acres they own.”

One of those unintended consequences is playing out in Arkansas.

“I’m announcing Syngenta, a Chinese state-owned agrichemical company, must give up its landing holdings in Arkansas,” says Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, referencing a 160-acre research site owned by Northrup King Seed, a Syngenta subsidiary.

Eric Boeck, president of Syngenta Seeds North America, told Farm Journal editor Clinton Griffiths: “EPA and USDA many times require us to do work and permitting right in the same state as we’re going to sell products. One of the first things we have to make sure we figure out is how we work with the local community to make sure we’re still getting products tested in their backyard, so we have the ability to sell those products.”

(Farm Journal)

Syngenta argues if they sell that particular farm, Arkansas farmers will be at a disadvantage because research can’t be done in the same weather and soil conditions.

“We’re heavy in the soybean market in Arkansas, some of those maturity zones, we have a very significant market share and savings,” Boeck says. “We want to make sure we’re protecting those farmers’ abilities to be able to use our products.”

Wiesemeyer says the bigger issue for U.S. farmland might be solar panels, with farmers in states like Missouri reporting companies have offered to pay more than $1,000 per acre cash rent to put solar panels on their farm. At such a high price, he says it’s eating up acres of farmland, with the potential to grow even more in 2024.

US Trade Rep Tai to Discuss Biden's Trade Agenda Today

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 18:45:00 GMT

Tai will have a discussion with Foreign Policy Editor in Chief Ravi Agrawal today to discuss the Biden administration’s trade agenda. Tai is expected to signal that Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are not permanently removed from the Biden administration’s trade plans based on comments she made to Politico in an interview.

Tai continues to try to defend the Biden administration’s trade policy approach that has even come under criticism from some Democrats.

“In this time and place and in this current situation, the traditional approach to free trade agreements — which isn’t just that they do tariff cuts, but that they do tariff cuts on a fully comprehensive basis — isn’t what we need right now,” Tai said. “That neither puts workers at the center of our trade policy, nor does it solve the challenges that we have with respect to resilience and sustainability.”

Tai said she was “open minded” on FTA talks with the U.K, but said no decision has been made, commenting that “nothing is off the table.”

Tariffs on China

Regarding tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on China, Tai acknowledged she faces regular questions on what it will take to get tariffs removed and whether they will ever be removed.

“If you take a couple steps back and you look at the policy landscape, I think that better question is, what has China done to deserve our dialing back the tariffs,” said Tai.

Tai also said the tariffs need to be viewed as a tool and that they should be useful.

Bottom line

The continued go-slow approach of the Biden administration’s trade policy the first two years of Biden’s term remains unchanged. Not much there, there.

Oatly Ads Banned in UK for ‘Misleading’ Environmental Claims

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 21:21:13 GMT

The popular plant-based beverage, Oatly, has recently been told to not repeat some of its advertisements in the United Kingdom after complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) were upheld, according to BBC News.

Over the past year, the company has run a series of advertisements that have compared the carbon footprint of meat and dairy to Oatly’s plant-based beverage. The bold claims generated attention from the public and the campaign group, A Greener World. After the advertisements ran, more than 100 separate complaints began to trickle in, leading the ASA to its current investigation.

Two television commercials, which portrayed children questioning their father’s decision to drink cow’s milk, claimed that, “Oatly generates 73% less C02e vs. milk, calculated from grower to grocer.”

According to BBC News, the ASA said the television ad was misleading because Oatly based the claim on comparing one of its products, Oatly Barista Edition, with full cream milk. The ASA said consumers would understand the claim to include all of Oatly’s products instead of this specific product.

“It’s clear that we could have been more specific in the way we described some of the scientific data,” said Oatly spokesman Tim Knight.

To add to the fire, a social media ad campaign from the company stated that, “The dairy and meat industries emit more CO2e than all the world’s planes, trains, cars, boats, etc., combined.”

However, the ASA said this was not a fair comparison. The company compared the full lifecycle of the meat and dairy industry , which included emissions from producing feed, using fertilizers, and transporting the food, with figures from the transport industry which only reflected emissions coming directly from the vehicles.

Furthermore, two Oatly advertisements published in newspapers stated that, “Today, more than 25% of the world’s greenhouse gases are generated by the food industry, and meat and dairy account for more than half of that.”

Once again, the ASA did not support this claim, saying that it was misleading because Oatly held meat and dairy to include fish and eggs, whereas consumers might assume it referred to a narrower definition. Oatly said it has no plans to repeat the claim and has removed posts making similar claims from its own social media channels.

According to BBC News, the ASA has it made clear it will take a tougher stance on firms making environmental statements. The regulating body said last year it would be scrutinizing such claims closely and has already ruled against a Lipton tea ad which claimed its plastic bottles were “100% recycled plastic” while the small print explained that did not include the lid or label.

China To Lift Ban On British Beef

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:49:23 GMT

Chinese and British officials say they are set to end the 23-year ban on British beef in China. The ban has been in effect since 1996 due to an outbreak of the fatal neurodegenerative condition bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), which led to the death of 180,000 cows and more than 150 people in Britain.

Liu Xiaoming, China’s ambassador to the UK, and Robert Goodwill, the United Kingdom’s minister of state at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, signed the UK-China Beef Protocol in London on Monday during the 10th UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue.

While both nations must finalize a standard health certificate to accompany shipments, the United Kingdom believes the deal could be worth $290 million for British famers over the next five years.

“This is a major coup for our world-class food and farming industry,” Goodwill said. “Today’s milestone reflects our ambition to maximize new trading opportunities across the world and become a truly global Britain as we leave the European Union.”

China began the process of lifting its import ban on British beef last February, and this year Chinese officials completed a series of inspections of meat-processing plants and other facilities in the UK.

The timing of the trade deal is significant as the UK heads towards October 31, the current Brexit deadline. The European Union lifted its ban on British beef in 2006, with the United States following in 2016.