Perhaps, the ranchers are a little hesitant to expand the cow herd, so long as there is this much uncertainty in the grain markets. Placement activity in September was a little more aggressive than the trade had anticipated. Marketings were at 97% of a year ago, which wasn t bad given that there was one fewer trading day this year. The trade expected marketings to only be at 96% of last year. However, this does represent the 2nd smallest marketing number in the last 11 years. The trade had...

That's why the identities of restaurants and grocery stores in California who served beef from a mad cow in 2003 were kept secret as well as the identities of Texas and Alabama ranches who produced mad cows soon after. Lucky for big meat, state and federal lawmakers have long anticipated the need to protect businesses--if not people--when outbreaks of potentially lethal pathogens occur in meat and enacted shield laws. Profit watching causes other health risks in the slaughterhouse too...

Funding would be cut off in the House bill for further work on a nationwide livestock-tracking system, embraced in 2003 as a way to prevent the spread of mad cow disease. The White House has threatened to veto the bill on grounds it spends too much and ties the administration's on issues ranging from prescription drugs to school snacks. Among them, it said, was that USDA has no benchmarks to tell if participation is high enough for the system to be effective. Representatives passed the...

With less food to feed the livestock, the Willses are now forced to sell off a quarter of their cattle this winter and nearly all of their calves, which are underweight. Also, a two-year tax credit is available, but ranchers and farmers must rebuild their crops or livestock during that time to take advantage of it. It was raining the day Wills talked about this past summer's hot dry spell and how it's still taking a toll on local farmers and ranchers. everything just wanted to turn in the...

A committee summary of the proposed commodity section of the farm bill said the loan rate for raw cane sugar would be raised by 1 cent a lb and a program would be authorized to convert surplus sugar into fuel ethanol. Guarantees $123 million for research and market promotion for specialty crops and to help farmers switch to organic crops. Leaders said they would eliminate the "three-entity" rule that allows producers to collect subsidies indirectly and would require payments to be tracked...