Beef producers in Nebraska and throughout the nation have seen elevated costs and returns over the previous yr as demand continued to construct after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Producers nonetheless face a number of challenges and points, nonetheless, because the cow herd shrinks as a part of a liquidation part and as feedstuffs are stretched amid persevering with drought issues throughout elements of the Nice Plains.
Amid these financial alternatives and challenges, beef producers stay engaged within the dialogue and improvement of a number of coverage points. Whereas producers and producer organizations deal with coverage points and proposals, a cohort of scholars on the College of Nebraska-Lincoln is honing its coverage focus, as effectively, as a part of the Nebraska Beef Trade Students program in UNL’s School of Agricultural Sciences and Pure Sources.
The NBIS program’s 14th class of students is working via its last semester in a course targeted on beef coverage points The group traveled to the 2023 Cattle Trade Conference in February to look at and take part in coverage discussions and introduced again a number of points and subjects for additional focus and dialogue.
The checklist reads not solely like an project for sophistication, but additionally as a map for the entire beef trade for 2023 and past.
Competitors and cattle advertising
One of many greatest points of debate and one of many longest-running points stays the broad space of cattle advertising and competitors within the processing sector. Considerations about market competitiveness, worth spreads and focus within the meat processing sector date again greater than 100 years however proceed right this moment as deal with worth discovery and transparency and the query of whether or not present money market negotiations are ample to determine a aggressive market worth.
The extent of money negotiations has declined considerably over time as the usage of different advertising preparations or formulation contracts has grown. The contracts present advantages to producers and to packers within the type of market danger administration, provide chain coordination and potential high quality incentives, however in addition they include prices to the broader market if there will not be sufficient negotiated money trades to determine a aggressive base worth.
The current creation of a cattle market contract library offers extra perception on the kinds of contracts and money market info getting used to determine market costs for cattle, however additional proposals have been provided to mandate minimal ranges of money advertising, in addition to present additional assist for the event of further small to midsized packers throughout the nation.
Animal well being and traceability
Traceability just isn’t a brand new difficulty, nevertheless it continues to be a spotlight of debate each for shopper market views and for animal well being and administration. When a nationwide animal identification plan was proposed 20 years in the past, the intent was to create a system that would monitor all cattle, all premises and all actions of cattle to offer for fast traceback of animals within the occasion of an animal illness outbreak.
The proposal foundered amid issues about value, velocity of commerce, knowledge administration, confidentiality and potential legal responsibility. Finally, USDA adopted a federal animal identification plan that solely tracks interstate actions of cattle. Current proposals to require digital identification programs as a part of that traceability system are actually the topic of debate as implementation nears.
Labeling
Whereas the first focus of the animal traceability system stays on animal well being and illness administration, there’s additionally a broader focus and renewed consideration to traceability from a shopper perspective. Beef producers have been attentive to issues of labeling and the very definition of meat with the event of other proteins and plant or cell-based cultured protein merchandise to compete with beef.
This labeling difficulty for meat-alternative proteins is comparatively new, though the dairy sector has been attentive to the definition and labeling of milk or milk substitutes for a while. Coverage debates over proposed milk labels and jurisdiction between USDA and the Meals and Drug Administration spotlight the problems of concern.
County-of-origin labeling (COOL) for meat has additionally returned to the dialogue. COOL guidelines have been initially proposed greater than 30 years in the past and have been presumably settled by farm invoice laws and later dispute settlement via the World Commerce Group.
Nonetheless, the difficulty continues to be raised by lots of the similar stakeholders as these involved over cattle market competitiveness. Present coverage dialogue is targeted on the definition and use of a “Product of the USA” label and will basically change into a course of or source-verified label that may be a voluntary different to the unique obligatory label proposed for COOL.
Animal welfare
Client preferences and calls for for animal welfare proceed to evolve over time, inserting elevated expectations on producers and the advertising system. Producers can level to the adoption and implementation of improved practices over time with satisfaction, and the truth that 4 of the 5 Beef High quality Assurance program honorees on the current Cattle Trade Conference have been from Nebraska confirms the efforts right here to be good stewards and follow sound animal husbandry.
Nonetheless, adopting and sustaining good practices doesn’t hold the difficulty off the radar. Continued debate over animal welfare and meals product advertising guidelines in California are nonetheless in query because the Supreme Courtroom is predicted to rule someday this spring on a problem to California’s restrictions.
Whereas these guidelines handle egg-laying hens, gestating sows and veal calves, the meat sector will proceed to face animal welfare points, whether or not it’s with particular manufacturing practices or with the underlying consumption of meat merchandise that’s generally clouded in debates of environmental or well being impacts of the meat sector.
Hormones
Using hormones or progress promoters in beef manufacturing may very well be a type of practices that known as into query. Whereas the science and security of hormones in beef manufacturing appears to be a settled difficulty, that has not stopped continued questions or challenges for the trade.
The meat sector should rigorously handle its use of hormones in beef manufacturing to handle questions of utilization, welfare, meals security and even commerce.
Actually, one of many longest-running commerce disputes continues to this present day between the U.S. and the European Union over hormones utilized in U.S. meat manufacturing. The dispute dates to the Nineties, when the U.S. complained about European restrictions towards hormones and meat produced with hormones. The U.S. received the dispute, however the EU refused to conform, resulting in years of countervailing duties on EU exports to the U.S. and ultimately a compromise settlement for elevated entry to the EU marketplace for non-hormone handled beef.
The present Non-Hormone Handled Cattle program was explicitly created to assist produce, supply and hint cattle via the manufacturing and processing segments to qualify the meat for the EU market.
These are a few of the coverage points within the headlines and on the horizon for the meat trade, and this yr’s NBIS college students have developed an excellent understanding and perspective on the problems. The work factors to the continuous want for the meat trade (and different sectors) to handle essential points and proceed shifting ahead. The work additionally factors to the standard of scholars and the excellent training and abilities they’ve garnered to change into future leaders within the beef trade.
Lubben is the Extension coverage specialist on the College of Nebraska-Lincoln.
