CattleFax Outlook from CattleCon
The CattleFax Outlook Seminar is always a popular event at CattleCon and it was packed as usual last week in Nashville.
CEO Randy Blach told cattle producers they should be proud of the current state of the beef industry.
“This is my 45th year at CattleFax, so I’ve seen some of those ugly, ugly days back in the 80s and early 90s where beef demand was cut in half between 1980 and 1998, we wondered how are we ever going to get out of this mess. And to see the complete opposite of that today, with demand at a 40-year high, 17 straight years of continued growth in beef demand, prices, more importantly, profitability at record high levels, and again, my main message to producers, we shouldn’t have to apologize for this and don’t apologize for this because this has taken a ton of hard work, sweat for the industry,” said Blach.
Randy Blach Presentation (14:20)
Interview with Randy Blach (10:47)
CattleFax chief operating officer Mike Murphy says they expect strong demand and tight supplies this year.
“The U.S. cattle and beef industry enters 2026 with strong but volatile market conditions, as historically tight cattle supplies, record-setting beef demand, and elevated policy and weather uncertainty continue to support prices, even as markets appear to near cyclical highs. Tight inventories and exceptional demand remain the dominant forces shaping the market; however, producer demographics, high input costs, and policy uncertainty point to a slow and measured expansion phase,” said Murphy.
Mike Murphy Presentation (20:52)
Matt Makens, CattleFax atmospheric scientist, sees a transition phase in the weather most likely through spring and early summer.
A fast forming El Niño could deepen drought in corn growing regions while increasing precipitation in the West, whereas slower development may support more balanced moisture. By fall, El Niño becomes increasingly likely, though global climate factors could still alter its typical impacts. “El Niño isn’t a guarantee of rain for everyone,” Makens said. “Other global patterns can amplify or mute its influence, so close monitoring remains essential.”
Matt Makens presentation (20:04)
Shifting the discussion to an outlook on the economy, energy and feed grains, Troy Bockelmann, CattleFax director of protein and grain analysis, noted that inflation continued to moderate in 2025, ending the year at 2.7% CPI growth and spending most of the year below 3%, the lowest since 2020-2021. With inflation relatively low, the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered interest rates in 2025, finishing the year with the Prime Rate just below 7%, which is still relatively high relative to the 3% level seen from 2009 to 2021.
Troy Bockelmann Presentation (16:30)
Kevin Good, vice president of market analysis at CattleFax, reported the U.S. beef cow herd decreased 280,000, while dairy cow inventories increased by 190,000 head.
Kevin Good Presentation (23:18)
In summary, CattleFax forecasts a positive long-term outlook for the beef industry with strong domestic demand, improving beef quality, and sufficient packing capacity expected to continue supporting profitability for the cow-calf sector as the industry moves into the next phase of the cattle cycle.
BQA Awards Presented at CattleCon
Greta Halahan accepts 2026 BQA Dairy FARM Award for Singing Brook Farms (NCBA photo)
And the winners are:
2026 BQA Cow-Calf Award – East Foundation Ranches, Hebbronville, TX
2026 BQA Dairy FARM Award – Singing Brook Farms, Imler, Pennsylvania
2026 BQA Feedyard Award – Ordway Cattle Feeders, Ordway, Colorado
2026 BQA Marketer Award – Sysco Corporation, Houston, Texas
2026 BQA Educator Award – Jerry Yates, West Virginia University, Wardensville, West Virginia
The national BQA Awards are sponsored by Cargill and Sam’s Club. Award winners are selected by a committee comprised of BQA certified representatives from universities, state beef councils, sponsors and affiliated groups, who assess nominations based on their demonstrated commitment to BQA practices, their service as leaders in the beef industry and their dedication to promoting the BQA message.
BQA may stand for Beef Quality Assurance, but it also works on the dairy farm. “BQA standards give us tools to ensure that we’re creating healthy animals that thrive, which then translates into profitability,” said Greta Halahan with Dairy FARM Award winner Singing Brook Farms. By adhering to these standards, the farm aims to achieve optimal animal welfare, higher productivity and financial sustainability. These standards emphasize continual employee training and meticulous record keeping, ensuring the well-being of the cattle and the overall success of the dairy operation.
Interview with Greta Halahan, BQA Award winner (8:58)Luke Larson with award winner Ordway Cattle Feeders in Colorado says the BQA program helps remind them they are in the beef business, not the cattle business. “BQA is a program from birth to harvest. Our role is somewhere in between, the last phase of the live animal prior to harvest,” said Larson. “So things that we’re really paying attention to, cattle handling, well-being of the cattle being first and foremost, and then all the things we need to do to make sure our product is safe. We administer several different products to the animals to keep them healthy, and also to make our production more efficient. And so BQA gives us the tools and the roadmap to make sure we’re doing all those things the right way.”
Interview with Luke Larson (5:10)Listen to interviews with other BQA award winners:
BQA Marketer of the Year, Joe Don Eilers, Sysco Corporation
Interview with Joe Don Eilers (6:00)
BQA Educator Award, Jerry Yates, West Virginia University
Interview with Jerry Yates (7:31)
Industry Ag News 2/10
Meet CIRB’s Newest Leadership Development Class
CIRB’s 2025-2026 Leadership Development Program Class
The LDP is open to employees of CIRB member companies who wish to expand their network and broaden their knowledge of the industry. Prior to the name change, the Emerging Leaders Program graduated 115 crop insurance professionals over 10 classes.
All 14 of the class participants were at the CIRB annual meeting last week in Indian Wells, California, and all of them offered their comments about the program and what it means for them. The individual interviews by reporter Laura McNamara are edited into an hour-long podcast that reveals the future for the industry. Take a listen.
The 2025-2026 CIRB Leadership Development Program class:
Heather Jager, American Farm Bureau Insurance Services
Jamie Mason, American Farm Bureau Insurance Services
Aaron Larson, AgriSompo
Audrey Carls, AgriSompo
Dylan Houser, COUNTRY Financial
Shelby Oetting, Farm Bureau Financial Services
Josh Menz, Farmers Mutual Hail
Kathleen Bjerke, Farmers Mutual Hail
Avery Cook, Gallagher Re
Kody Kirkendall, Guy Carpenter
Ashley Hawley, Hudson Crop
Isaac Straub, Hudson Crop
Josh Goche, Rural Community Insurance Services
Stephanie Manhart, Rural Community Insurance Services
Akralos Animal Nutrition Debuts at CattleCon
During the 2026 CattleCon trade show, Akralos Animal Nutrition debuted at the Alltech booth. Conducting an interview is Steven Orr, Paramount Broadcasting (All Ag All Day) with Akralos CEO, Brian Gier. Here are the details.
Akralos Animal Nutrition, a new North American animal feed and nutrition company, officially launched Feb. 1. Formed through a joint venture between global agriculture leaders ADM and Alltech, Akralos combines Alltech’s U.S.-based Hubbard Feeds and Canada-based Masterfeeds businesses with ADM’s U.S. feed operations.
Operating an extensive network of more than 40 feed mills across North America and supported by more than 1,400 team members, Akralos delivers reliable, high-quality feeds, minerals and supplements through its trusted brands, backed by advanced nutrition expertise, leading-edge science and personalized service.
“Akralos brings together proven scale, innovation and infrastructure with a deep commitment to service and results,” said Akralos chief executive officer Brian Gier, a leader with more than 30 years of experience in the commercial animal feed industry. “From day one, our focus is on delivering nutrition our customers can rely on, support they can count on and partnerships that help their animals and businesses thrive.”
Listen in for more during the interview:
Interview with Brian Gier, CEO, Akralos (4:48)
Find more interviews in the Official CattleCon Virtual Newsroom
2026 NCBA Officer Team Approved at CattleCon
(L-R)Skye Krebs, Dan Hanrahan, Travis Maddock, Brad Hastings, Kenny Rogers, Buck Wehrbein, Kim Brackett, Gene Copenhaver, Scott Anderson (NCBA photo)
Kenny Rogers of Colorado was elected chair of the NCBA Policy Division and Scott Anderson of Oklahoma was elected policy vice chair. Travis Maddock of North Dakota and Dan Hanrahan of Iowa, were elected as chair and vice chair of the NCBA Federation Division, respectively. Brad Hastings of Texas will serve in the role of NCBA treasurer.
Copenhaver’s family has been raising crops and livestock since 1850. “I’m a fifth generation cattleman from from southwest Virginia and near the Tennessee line. And I’ve previously, I was a ag banker for 38 years. So I was doing 2 full-time jobs like a lot of our industry does in the business,” said Coperhaver. “I’ve been involved with NCBA, a member of 35 years, and been in policy leadership for the last 12 years. So it’s been a good way to be a servant to the industry. It’s important. My parents taught me that. My dad was involved in the cattle industry and local, state, and national cattle organizations.”
Copenhaver currently manages his family’s stocker operation in southwest Virginia with his son, Will. He has been married to his wife, Jodi, for more than 35 years, and they have two other grown children, Brad and Jaymee, and three granddaughters.
Listen to interviews with Coperhaver, Brackett, and Krebs from CattleCon in Nashville last week.
Gene Copenhaver, NCBA, President
Interview with Gene Copenhaver (7:06)
Kim Brackett, NCBA, President-elect
Interview with Kim Brackett (7:51)
Skye Krebs, NCBA, Vice President
Interview with Skye Krebs (6:11)
Find more interviews in the Official CattleCon Virtual Newsroom
Crop Insurance Industry Navigating Change
The 2026 Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) Annual Meeting is being held this week in Indian Wells, California, bringing together industry leaders, experts, and stakeholders across the crop insurance industry.
CIRB Executive Director Mike Torrey says the industry is dealing with lots of changes right now. “I think coming into the conference, the one guiding principle for the board of directors was there is so much change happening both in Washington and in the marketplace,” said Torrey. “So we spent a little bit of time talking about the changes, not just in Washington, D.C. and what’s happening on policy, but also what’s happening from an economic standpoint around the country. And some of that flows from Washington, D.C. So that was the first focus of the meeting. Another part of the meeting where they really focused was on the rapidly changing in developing technology applications and what that means for our agricultural system, whether it’s on the production side and farmers being able to deliver more for less and efficiently, and at the same time what implications that has for what folks here do, and that is deliver crop insurance for America’s farmers and ranchers.”
Torrey says CIRB is very focused on the next generation of leadership, which is why they have grown what is now called their Leadership Development Program. “The program, the leadership development program is about 11 years old, and I think after this class graduates, there will have been over 100….I mean, that’s a significant number. And it’s all about helping them be better at what they do within their company, but also what they do on protecting and defending the program.”
Learn more in this interview with Torrey.
Mike Torrey, CIRB (8:27)
RFK Jr. Gets Warm Welcome at CattleCon
Sec. Kennedy chats with NCBA president Buck Wehrbein (NCBA photo)
“We now have a food pyramid, which we flipped upside down, because it made more sense. That puts protein at the top of the food pyramid,” Kennedy said in a fireside chat with National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Buck Wehrbein. “Food is medicine, and meat and chicken and eggs and animal protein are now at the top of the priority list.”
Kennedy, who recently had his 72nd birthday, talked about the health benefits he personally experienced by switching to a carnivore diet. “I eat beef every day. I usually eat it twice a day,” said Kennedy. “My blood markers dropped dramatically. So I really, for me, .. it’s been incredible — it’s been transformative.”
Kennedy’s bottom line message to producers is eat real food and get production back up to where it used to be. “We had 132 million head in 1972. We have 92 million today. And a lot of producers are now, because of fluctuations in the markets and uncertainty, slaughtering the breeding cows. And I’d ask you to stop doing that. We need a lot of beef, and we want to make it here in America. We don’t want to be importing it from other countries.”
Listen to some of Sec. Kennedy’s comments:
Sec. Kennedy comments (7:43)
CattleCon 2026 Breaks Attendance Record
NCBA photo of trade show floor
“There’s a lot of smiles, a lot of optimism, and everybody’s having a great time, not only with the just current state of the beef industry and how good things look for us, but also we’re having a great CattleCon,” said National Cattlemen’s Beef Association CEO Colin Woodall. “A lot of good speakers. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was a hit. And of course, having the largest trade show in the beef industry doesn’t hurt either, and folks are able to get out there and see some new products, some new services to help them get even better at producing beef.”
On the agenda Thursday, cattle producers will hear from Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who Woodall says gave the industry a big win this year already.
“A year ago, we were still dealing with the proposal that we saw from the Biden administration that took meat off the center of the plate. It replaced it with beans, peas, and lentils. And we just weren’t happy with that. And we had to fight and fight hard to be able to present the science to Secretary Kennedy and his team. And you know what? Secretary Kennedy and his team took that science. They looked at beef, and as a result, we have the new dietary guidelines for America. We have that inverted pyramid that has beef at the top. And, you know, he went so far as to even talk about how beef tallow is a great fat to cook with as well. So a huge win for us as cattle producers.”
Listen to an interview with Woodall from CattleCon.
Interview with Colin Woodall (6:00)