River Valley Beef Cattle Conference to explore state of hay availability, cattle genetics and more

By Ryan McGeeney
U of A System Division of Agriculture 

OZARK, Ark. — Researchers and extension agents with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture will be bringing the latest in cattle production knowledge to interested attendees at the Feb. 20 River Valley Beef Cattle Conference in Ozark. 

ADDRESSING CONCERNS — With cattle markets soaring throughout 2023 and regional drought conditions affecting the availability and quality of hay and other forages, attendees at the Feb. 20 River Valley Beef Cattle Conference in Ozark can expect the conference to address topics key to success in 2024. (Division of Agriculture photo.)

With cattle markets soaring throughout 2023 and regional drought conditions affecting the availability and quality of hay and other forages, attendees can expect the conference to address topics key to success in 2024.

“I think producers are mostly worried about hay and forage shortages,” said Bob Harper, staff chair for the Logan County Cooperative Extension Service. “They are also worried about high fertilizer and input costs in the coming year. I think most of them would like to try and up inputs this spring and summer in order to try and get back ahead of their hay situation, but they are concerned that high fertilizer prices may prevent that from happening.

In-person registration for the conference will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the conference will. conclude at 12:15 p.m. with lunch. The cost is $20, payable at the door.

Presenters will include Jesse Taylor, staff chair for the Johnson County Cooperative Extension Service; Kevin Van Pelt, extension agriculture agent for the Conway County Cooperative Extension Service; Maggie Justice, extension beef cattle specialist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture; Jeremy Powell, professor of animal science for the Division of Agriculture; and Ryan Loy, extension agricultural economist for the Division of Agriculture.

Taylor and Van Pelt will discuss the 2023 hay verification report, which will include the latest findings in verification trials. Justice will discuss understanding expected progeny differences, or EPDs, and genetic tests for cattle breeding. Loy will discuss the input price outlook for 2024.

The conference agenda includes:

• Registration Introductions & Welcome

• Welcome from Farm Credit Services

• Hay Verification report – Jesse Taylor & Kevin Van Pelt

• Understanding and using EPD’s & Genetic tests – Dr. Maggie Justice

• Break

• Input Price Outlook – Dr. Ryan Loy

• Veterinary/Producers relationship requirements – Dr. Jeremy Powell

• Live cattle assessment & valuation – Shawn Gattis

• Lunch

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.

Cattle herd rebuilding means lower margins for packers like Tyson Foods

by Kim Souza (ksouza@talkbusiness.net)

Lower beef packer margins for Tyson Foods and other processors will continue as the U.S. beef cattle herd rebuilds, according to Derrell Peel, livestock marketing analyst at Oklahoma State University Extension.

Packers like Springdale-based Tyson Foods lost about $10 per head on the beef they processed for the week ending June 3. The loss per head widened from $5 per head the prior week. Packers profited about $87 per head a month ago and $265 per head a year ago, according to Sterling Beef Profit Tracker.

Packer margins are being squeezed by higher live cattle prices driven by fewer cattle supplies which has pushed processing capacity utilization down to 79% in recent weeks.

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/06/cattle-herd-rebuilding-means-lower-margins-for-packers-like-tyson-foods/

Beef cattle inventories drop to lowest levels in more than half century

by George Jared (gjared@talkbusiness.net)

Beef cattle inventories across the United States are at their lowest level in more than six decades, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Rising demand will mean long-term price hikes for consumers.

In its biannual cattle report, USDA reported a total of 89.3 million head as of Jan. 1, about 3% lower than the total reported a year ago, and the lowest since 2015. Beef cattle, bred specifically for slaughter and meat sales, declined 3.6%, to 28.9 million head, the lowest total recorded by the agency since 1962.

In “Cattle Market Notes Weekly,” a newsletter focused on the cattle industry, University of Kentucky’s Kenny Burdine and James Mitchell, extension livestock economist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said the decline came as no surprise.

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/02/beef-cattle-inventories-drop-to-lowest-levels-in-more-than-half-century/

High input prices, drought, disease cause Arkansas cattle farmers to struggle

by George Jared (gjared@talkbusiness.net)

Cattle farmer John Kunkel spent much of his professional career as a buyer for Walmart. He decided in 2014 to return to his childhood home in Evening Shade, a small town in Sharp County. He wanted to raise cattle.

He returned home to run his family farm, Peaceful River Farm, located along the Strawberry River. It’s been in their family for more than a century.

He began with a herd of 14 head and has been able to grow it to about 50 head. An input cost explosion at the beginning of 2022 coupled with a drought that impacted hay production means many small cattle operations are struggling to survive, Kunkel told Talk Business & Politics.

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/02/high-input-prices-drought-disease-cause-arkansas-cattle-farmers-to-struggle/

U.S. beef cattle inventory lowest since 1962

By Ryan McGeeney
U of A System Division of Agriculture 

LITTLE ROCK — Beef cattle inventories across the United States are at their lowest point in more than six decades, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

STEEP DECLINE — In its bi-annual cattle report, USDA reported a total of 89.3 million head as of Jan. 1, 2023 — 3 percent lower than the total reported a year ago, and the lowest since 2015. Beef cattle — those bred specifically for slaughter and meat sales — declined 3.6 percent, to 28.9 million head, the lowest total recorded by the agency since 1962. (USDA graphic.)

In its biannual cattle report, USDA reported a total of 89.3 million head as of Jan. 1, 2023 — 3 percent lower than the total reported a year ago, and the lowest since 2015. Beef cattle — those bred specifically for slaughter and meat sales — declined 3.6 percent, to 28.9 million head, the lowest total recorded by the agency since 1962.

In “Cattle Market Notes Weekly,” a newsletter focused on the cattle industry, University of Kentucky’s Kenny Burdine and James Mitchell, extension livestock economist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, wrote this week that the decline came as no surprise.

“There was no question that the beef cow herd had gotten smaller,” Burdine and Mitchell said. It was “just a question of how much smaller.”

For many producers throughout the country, 2022 had offered a perfect storm of economic and weather-related challenges: input costs such as diesel and fertilizer doubling or even tripling, and a hot, dry summer that only increased reliance on groundwater in the absence of rainfall. For cattle producers in particular, drought conditions offered no replenishment of dwindling forage supplies, leaving many producers to cull deeper into their herds than they might have otherwise preferred. Elevated beef cull prices contributed to an 11 percent increase in beef cow slaughter, according to USDA.

As Mitchell recently pointed out, however, the reduced supply combined with steady demand from the U.S. consumer at least meant greater profitability for those producers with stock to sell.

“There is a pretty substantial biological lag in the beef supply chain,” he said. “What consumers experience at the grocery store is a product of what cattle producers were going through a year or two ago. It takes about two years for a new calf to become the steak on your dinner plate.

“To the extent that we’ve got historically low cattle stocks today, that will lead to tighter cattle production, which means potentially higher beef prices,” Mitchell said. “From the perspective of cattle producers, this also means higher prices. The recent report from USDA just reinforces a bullish outlook on cattle prices for the next couple of years.”

The downward trend in cattle production does not appear likely to reverse itself in 2023. According to USDA’s cattle-on-feed data, the number of cows on feed as of Jan. 1 fell 4 percent from 2022 numbers, to about 14.2 million, marking the first year-over-year decline in beef production in eight years, Burdine and Mitchell wrote.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.

Cattle herds plummet nationally as slaughter cattle sales in Arkansas balloon

by George Jared (gjared@talkbusiness.net)

The first tangible signs that the beef cattle industry in Arkansas is retracting are now visible. Cattle farmers throughout the South and West are culling herds, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics (NASS) report.

As of July 1, there were an estimated 98.8 million head of cattle nationwide, a 2% drop in total from 2021, the report states. It’s the lowest cattle inventory level in the U.S. since 2015 when the industry endured a severe collapse during the fall of that year.

Drought conditions have spread throughout the South and West and now are impacting nearly every state in the country including Alaska and Hawaii, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. In Arkansas three counties – Fulton, Sharp, and Randolph – are classified as D3 or in extreme drought. The only category that is worse is D4 or exceptional drought.

https://talkbusiness.net/2022/07/cattle-herds-plummet-nationally-as-slaughter-cattle-sales-in-arkansas-balloon/