Kumbaya for the U.S. Cattle Herd
With the Southeast Ag Report, I’m Haylie Shipp
Cattle producers from across the nation were "gone to Texas" at the start of this month to attend the 2022 Cattle Industry Convention. At an unsure time of high inputs, packer consolidation, and a shrinking cow herd, you can imagine that if there was ever a time for kumbaya upon constituents, this year wasn't it.
Don Schiefelbein, a central Minnesota native, seedstock breeder and cattle feeder became the new National Cattlemen's Beef Association president during the convention: "Once you get inside this thing, you realize how big a ship it is, and how many different sizes of players there are and how big this industry is. We just saw a study that said the beef industry marketing system is one of the most complex in the world. So, imagine everybody's got their viewpoint, whether you're from the northwest or the southeast, how this industry should run, but where we have to play the game is we kind of have to be the referee that says, what is the collective good for everybody? How do we drive this ship in a manner that doesn't negatively impact everybody and pushes everybody in a positive direction?”
Shiefelbein went on to say that the thing that keeps him up at night worried is when our industry is battling within itself.
