USDA Officials Visit CIRB Annual Meeting
RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger and USDA Under Secretary Robert Bonnie
Bonnie discussed USDA’s commitment to supporting farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners through Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. “We’ve now funded about 135 projects across the country,” said Bonnie. “The idea here is to create markets. The government can play an important role here but if we’re going to be successful, the investment has to come from the private sector.”
Bunger was happy to brag about the crop insurance program. “I can now say truthfully, we have the best crop insurance in the world,” she said, noting that she attended an international meeting last fall. “It was hosted by the country of Spain with other countries in attendance and while they are each proud of their own crop insurance, they’re looking to us. They acknowledge we have the best in the world.”
Listen to their joint remarks and interviews with each below:
Robert Bonnie and Marcia Bunger, USDA 45:58 Interview with Robert Bonnie, USDA 3:42 Interview with Marcia Bunger, USDA 2:57CattleFax Forecasts at #CattleCon24
One of the highlights of the Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show is always the CattleFax Outlook Seminar, and there was a full house in Orlando, Florida last week when the experts shared their market and weather analysis.
Kevin Good, vice president of market analysis at CattleFax, reported that U.S. beef cow herd declined 2% with inventories at 28.2 million head at the beginning of this year. “Though drought conditions did improve in many regions, over a third of the cow herd was affected by drought in 2023, causing limited heifer retention and more liquidation in some regions. This will limit growth to the cow herd near-term,” Good said.
Cow and bull slaughter is forecast to be 6.5 million head in 2024, down around 800,000 head, from 2023. CattleFax predicted feeder cattle and calf supplies outside of feedyards will be 1 million head smaller than 2023 at 24.1 million head.
Randy Blach, CattleFax chief executive officer, concluded the session with an overall positive outlook, and noted that the current cattle cycle will be much slower and prolonged compared to the last as heifer retention has not yet started on a nationwide basis. He expects the peak in cattle prices is likely to occur in 2025-2026 and, in the meantime, industry profitability will continue to swing in favor of the cow-calf producer as excess feeding and packing capacity chases a declining supply of feeder cattle and calves.
Listen to the entire presentation and interviews with Good and Blach below.
CattleFax Outlook Seminar 1:57:36 Interview with Randy Blach, CattleFax 8:16 Interview with Kevin Good, CattleFax 7:00Find more content from CattleCon24 in the official virtual newsroom.
Wyoming Cattleman Becomes New NCBA President
Wyoming rancher Mark Eisele became the new president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association during the 2024 Cattle Industry Convention last week in Orlando. Eisele, along with his wife, Trudy, and their children, operate the historic King Ranch near Cheyenne, Wyoming, grazing both public and private lands.
Eisele’s focus during his time as president is to advocate for opportunities to strengthen the industry for future generations and for producers’ freedom to operate. Protecting property rights and reinforcing the cattle industry’s position as an ally in preserving open spaces and wildlife habitat through managed grazing practices will be a top priority.
During the year ahead, Eisele also expects to tackle ongoing Farm Bill negotiations as NCBA works to secure reauthorization of animal health provisions, expand the accessibility and funding of risk management and disaster relief programs, and protect voluntary conservation programs. The significant challenge posed by federal government tax policies, particularly the Death Tax, will also be top of mind.
Interview with new NCBA presdient Mark Eisele 7:37
NCBA President-elect Buck Wehrbein of Nebraska
Find more content from CattleCon24 in the official virtual newsroom.
#CattleCon24 Regional Winners for Environmental Stewardship
ESAP Region I winner – Tuck Farms
And the winners are:
Region I: Tuck Farms, Moneta, Virginia
Region II: JB Ranch, Immokalee, Florida
Region IV: G Bar C Ranch, Rosston, Texas
Region V: Tower Rock Ranch, LLC, Mansfield, Washington
Region VI: Hart Ranch, Montague, California
Region VII: Bartholomay Kattle Kompany, Sheldon, North Dakota
(There was no winner for Region III this year)
The regional winners will compete for the national award, which will be presented during NCBA’s Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., April 17-19, 2024.
ESAP Region II winner JB Ranch
We were able to catch two of the regional winners for interviews at CattleCon and you can listen to them here:
Region I: Tuck Farms, Moneta, Virginia – Keith Tuck
Interview with ESAP regional winner Keith Tuck, Virginia 3:15
JB Ranch, Immokalee, Florida – Liesa and Russell Priddy
Interview with ESAP regional winner Liesa and Russell Priddy, Florida 7:00
Industry Ag News 2/2
CIRB Celebrates 60 Years Serving Farmers
At it’s annual meeting this week in Scottsdale, Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) is celebrating 60 years of serving farmers with safety net products to help them keep feeding the world.
The numbers show that crop insurance is more important than ever for farmers. “A four billion dollar industry 15 or 20 years ago is now an 18 billion industry,” said CIRB Chairman Brian Young with Great American Insurance Group. “There’s been a big push to try to get insurance available to all farmers who wish coverage for the crops that they grow.”
While CIRB always works to protect crop insurance from detractors, it’s especially important during farm bill negotiations, so Young says they will be very busy on Capitol Hill this year.
In this interview, Young also talks about CIRB’s very successful Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) which has 20 participants this year.
Interview with Brian Young, Great American 6:072024 CattleCon Attendees Enjoying the Sunshine State
It’s winter but Florida has whipped up sun and warmer temps for cattle producers at the newly named CattleCon. We had a great sunset yesterday and today has been a busy one as sessions have started and the trade show will open with a welcoming reception.
I have started a virtual newsroom for NCBA that will include my photo album along with interviews and selected session audio. You can find it here on AgNewsWire. I’ll be uploading the content throughout the week so check back when you can.
Here’s an example of what you’ll find.
D.C. Issues Update: Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane will provide a State of the Industry update; Expert policy speakers will share updates on tax policy, animal health, conservation, trade, supply chains, and more; NCBA’s Political Action Committee will report on the impact of your financial contributions that are helping to elect pro-cattle industry members of Congress across the country.
NCBA D.C. Issues Update Session 1:34:33
Precision Ag News 1/31
Envita® SC Receives OMRI Certification
Azotic Technologies announces that Envita® SC has received certification from the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) for use in compliance with the USDA National Organic Program.
Tom Tregunno, Global Business Development for Azotic, says OMRI certification introduces Envita SC to one of the fastest growing segments in agriculture. “Growers supplying bio-rational and organic products will now be able to take advantage of the many benefits of nitrogen fixation in a variety of crops and growing environments.”
Envita SC is a unique nitrogen-fixing biological based on the microbe Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus (Gd), originally discovered in sugarcane. This highly effective solution was introduced to the North American market in 2019. Since then, it has experienced phenomenal uptake by farmers around the world as it has consistently delivered exceptional results in a multitude of crops.