It goes without saying, but the beef industry has been wrought with struggles recently. There were plenty of issues slowly bubbling to the top of the volcano for years, ready to blow, but throw in a pandemic where processing plants are backlogged and boxed beef prices soar, while producer prices crash, and the entire industry has been covered in the ashes of a disaster that was just waiting to happen.

What’s worse is that the industry can’t agree on anything when it comes to policy decisions, and what might seem like an honest effort to help our industry, is something that could actually create bigger problems.

In an effort to relieve the industry from the turmoil, different policies have been introduced from all sides of the beef and cattle industry.

It is my firm belief that we cannot divide and conquer, but rather, look at the bigger picture and find a collective voice that makes our industry stronger, less vulnerable, and more powerful than the competition. We are constantly battling in a civil war against everything in our industry that doesn’t benefit our personal wants and needs, when what we should be doing is working together to find a solution for the greater-good.

In order to work together, we must know what our industry is facing, currently. There are some large pieces of policy that are being proposed, so I want to lay some of the big topics out there, in hopes that we can all find an unbiased opinion that leads to some constructive solutions, instead of industry-wide frustration and hate.

Fed Cattle Set-Aside program
Who: The Beef Alliance
What: The Fed Cattle Set-Aside program
Why: This program was inspired by a similar program in Canada during the BSE crisis in the early 2000’s. This program would relieve the backlog in cattle slaughter that has occurred due to the pandemic and processing plants closing or at lower capacity. It would incentivize cattle feeders to voluntarily remove, from the pipeline, some cattle that are nearing market ready weight for a period of time. This frees up space so cattle that must be slaughtered can be, while feeders with a more flexible timeline get compensated for keeping cattle longer.

This program will be administered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) but will provide an advisory committee that will keep track of unharvest-able cattle on a weekly basis to make recommendations on the number of cattle that need to enter this program.

Feeders who participate in this program will keep their cattle for 75 days, at a fixed rate of $2.90 per head per day. If capacity can handle more cattle, the advisory committee will instruct feeders if they can put cattle back into the pipeline for slaughter.

This program would be on an as-needed basis in times of crisis, and only temporary. The Alliance is currently in talks with Congress regarding this program.

However, some say this is another government bailout, and the problem wouldn’t be solved. Additionally, who is selected onto the advisory committee could be another issue.

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Prime Act
Who: Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME) re-introduced the PRIME (Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption) Act. Representatives Massie and Pingree have previously proposed this bill but haven’t succeeded in getting it passed. 2 Rancher-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund is in support of this legislation.
What: This bill would loosen regulations on meat at custom kill plants to be sold direct to consumer. Custom kill plants are not federally, or state inspected, and in order for a producer to sell meat piece-by piece, they must take to a USDA-inspected plant.
Why: This gives producers another outlet to market their products, and potentially sell across state lines without all the red tape. Instead of having to find an approved plant, they have more opportunities to sell their meat. Right now, a custom processor can only harvest meat for the customer who owns the animal.

However, many custom-exempt plants are over-booked currently, and this might not be a practical option.

50-14 Rule
Who: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.)
What: The bill proposes a minimum of 50% of a meat packer’s volume of beef slaughter to be purchased on the cash market. The cattle would be mandated to be delivered within 14 days.
Why: This could help with the price disparity seen in the industry and the accusations on meat packers that they depress the live market. Currently, packers buy near 20 percent of their cattle on the live market and often go beyond the 30-day limit of delivery.

However, this doesn’t give producers the freedom to market their cattle in the best way for their business. This could change how ranchers do business altogether.

mCOOL
Who: U.S. Senators, Jon Tester (D., Mont.) and Mike Rounds (R., S.D.) introduced a resolution to mCOOL. 
What: Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling has been a controversial issue. This resolution states that mCOOL should be reinstated in a way that meets World Trade Organization’s (WTO) regulations. This law would require retailers to clearly label where beef products originated from, in order to increase transparency with consumers and decrease competition with imported products.
Why: Some industry members feel that imported beef competes with USA beef because it is not properly labeled and feel that consumers don’t have a clearly defined choice at the meat counter. Others worry that this could lead to retaliatory tariffs of about $1 billion dollars, and studies have been conducted showing consumers don’t prioritize USA beef when shopping. The price of labeling could additionally be trickled down to consumers and ranchers, increasing their costs.

As a final note: I do not attempt to bias your view with this article, I only hope to give you the goal of the policies, and ask that you look critically into what would work, or what needs more revision in order to be beneficial. The articles cited are not to encourage agreement with any association, but rather give you a starting point to do more research regarding the topic. In the end, we must do what’s best for our industry, while also looking out for our own operations. It will take a lot more work between us in order to get this done.