Oregon Cattlemen's Accociation: We Need To Look To The Future

For much of the past year, the cattle industry was one of the few bright spots for the Ag economy. Thanks to the smallest national herd size reported in a generation, beef prices have been elevated, with no signs of immediately dropping. And because of that producer attitude is good, said Oregon Cattlemen' Association Immediate Past President Matt McElligott.

And what consumers don’t appreciate is that American ranchers are producing more beef, despite those low cattle numbers.

“So, the retail producer has seen a price increase, but only about 8% increase because the genetics, the management, how we're handling cattle, and how we feed cattle, we're raising more beef with less cattle," McElligott said. "So that's an environmental story that nobody's really talking about. We're doing more with less, which is a good thing.”

When it comes to the year ahead, there are several key issues McElligott will watch very closely, staring off with the national herd size, which is at the lowest numbers reported since the early 1950s.

“[I will also watch] The longevity of the producer and getting young people into the business. USDA came out with a plan," McElligott pointed out. "They haven't implemented it yet. We're giving feedback on it, but a big piece of that is getting young people into the industry and how we can make it affordable for them to raise capital to get into the business. Food security is national security and that's that's a big thing.”

McElligott said beef demand remains very strong, which he doesn’t see changing anytime soon. He added for the livestock sector to be successful, they must look to the future; adding “we can’t look behind us”.

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