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Livestock Sector Seeing Improvements

Sep 23, 2020

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The backlog in the beef sector is easing as packing plants continue to process more

cattle.

Anne Wasko is Chair of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef and President of

Cattle Trends.

"If you go back to the second quarter, of course, both the U-S and Canada placed a lot fewer cattle

on feed during those difficult months. Now we're into that time frame where those cattle would have normally

been coming to market. So, we are going to be able to get through the backlog and I think by October 1both countries

are going to be able to say we've got a good chunk of that, for the most part, cleaned up."

She says the beef industry was able to push cattle forward which means we'll have more supplies

as we go through the winter.

Wasko says today prices are strong and trade is starting to open back up again.

"Both Canadian and US exports are picking up for both beef and pork and that's good news. Processors are

going to continue to process cattle and get us caught up. I think that's all going to mean

we've got as good or better prices than we saw a year ago as we head into the fall run."

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.