There’s a Beast in the Economy Right Now Named Inflation

Dec 08, 2022

2023 might face a difficult outlook, but seeds are in a good place.

There’s a beast that our economy is currently battling. The battle started in 2022, but it doesn’t look like this monster attempting to wreak havoc is ready to leave: inflation.

Inflation is currently at levels we’ve not seen in the United States or around the world in over 40 years, according to Dan Basse, president and economist at AgResource.

“Gone are the days of low-interest rates,” he says in his presentation at the American Seed Trade Association’s CSS & Seed Expo 2022. “Gone are the days we’ll have employees come knocking on our door. Cheap labor around China and in the U.S. has left us — so as we think about this reset, I want you to think about your investments. Think about the world ahead and how this fits into the picture of dollars and where the world sits today.”

Think about what the U.S. — and the globe — have faced within the last few years. In addition to a global health pandemic, supply chains have yet to recover. Drought and heat are becoming more of an issue as temperatures rise. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, causing issues within the global grain trade. Inflation has been a major issue, along with rising interest rates, high gas and diesel prices and threats of protest on the railways.

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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.