Industry in crisis: As packers pocket beef profit, lobbying groups seek solutions aspentimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from aspentimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
On May 17, six farm groups joined voices to call on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Congress, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to ensure a âmore financially sustainable situation for cattle feeders and cow-calf producers.â
Thatâs make-nice farm talk for âMeatpackers are skinning U.S. cattlemen so badly now that we six, not-usually-friendly groups ask the federal governmentâswamp or no swampâto do something fast to save whatâs left of our well-tanned hides.â
Guebert
The fact that it took the farm group officials a whole day to hammer out a very modest agenda on what to do, then an entire week to agree on what to say in the brief press release, shows just how far a reach it was for some of these leaders to even shake hands.
Cattle market continues search for a market fix agweek.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from agweek.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Record Packer Profits: Details Emerge from Closed Door Meeting
Wednesday May 19th, 2021 On Monday, May 10, 2021, member leaders of American Farm Bureau Federation, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Farmers Union, R-CALF USA, and the United States Cattlemen’s Association met in Phoenix, Arizona.
These groups convened at the request of the Livestock Marketing Association to discuss challenges involved in the marketing of finished cattle with the ultimate goal of bringing about a more financially sustainable situation for cattle feeders and cow-calf producers.
The group talked openly and candidly about a wide range of important issues facing our industry today, including but not limited to:
Cattle producers have faced significant challenges over the last few years. And as Brett Crosby, fifth-generation cattle rancher from Wyoming, explains, 2020 was a tipping point for everybody.
Crosby, who also serves as a board member of the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, was one of just under two dozen members of the cattle industry who came together May 10 at the request of the Livestock Marketing Association to discuss challenges involved in the marketing of finished cattle with the ultimate goal of bringing about a more financially sustainable situation for cattle feeders and cow-calf producers.
Four meatpacking companies control over 80% of the cattle processing industry. “This simple fact leaves the cattle industry particularly vulnerable to market disruptions,” says Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, while speaking about the cattle market challenges during a House Agriculture Committee discussion on May 18.