Cattle Industry Stability Concerns, Corn for Use in Ethanal Increases

The conversation around rebuilding the U.S. cattle herd has been ongoing for some time. The one big, beautiful bill passed with incentives aimed at promoting herd expansion and paired with timely rains across the country, the industry appears primed for growth, according to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association Director of Government Affairs Kent Bacus, but with the President of the United States announcing a plan to import more beef, he cautions that industry stability has been shaken.

“While we've still had some declines, it's not at the same rates that we've had in previous years. We've seen rain starting to fall in the right areas. Honestly, these are all the things you're looking at. You need stability in order to encourage growth. The consumer demand is there, and it will continue to be there. The bigger question is: Is that demand going to be met by domestically produced American cattle, or is that going to be imported? Right now, the administration looks like doubling down on imports. That's not the message we need to send to the countryside. What we need to send is that we believe in U.S. cattle producers. We're investing in U.S. cattle producers.” The president's plan includes importing 300,000 metric tons of tariff-free beef into the United States in the name of lowering beef prices for consumers.

And corn use for ethanol production rose 4% from a year ago in July. The USDA says ethanol plants use 474.7 million bushels of corn, up 2% from June.