Online West Region Cattle Marketing Update set April 20

Apr 15, 2020

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will be holding the West Region Cattle Marketing Update online April 20 from 10-11 a.m. The focus will be the impact of COVID-19 on the beef industry.

The event is free and will be held on the Zoom meeting platform. Participants may also join by phone at 346-248-7799, meeting ID 191 418 537.

David Anderson, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension livestock economist, College Station, will discuss livestock and food product marketing.

“Cattle and calf prices are a real challenge now,” Anderson said. “The grocery store stampede has caused a lot of unexpected beef buying, driving up wholesale prices, but the market has plenty of cattle available.”

Anderson said the new coronavirus has slowed down meat processing, as workers have been out sick, and at least one smaller plant in the eastern U.S. has closed due to the large number of illnesses among its workforce.

“Calf prices are feeling the pressure of what the fed cattle market will be in August or October when they might finish,” he said. “Ranchers have some decisions to make, but they also may have the luxury of a little time to make them.”

Ken Jordan, owner of Jordan Cattle Auction, San Saba, will also be offering insight into the market. There will be a question and answer period at the conclusion of the meeting.

Source : tamu.edu

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.