NASHVILLE, TENN. (RFD NEWS) — Cattle were top of mind for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy as he spoke this week at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) CattleCon in Nashville, urging producers to retain their breeding cows.
“Begging you to increase the size of their herds,” Secretary Kennedy told beef industry stakeholders at CattleCon 2026 in Nashville on Thursday evening. “We had 132 head, 132 million head in 1972. We have 92 million today. And a lot of producers are now — because of fluctuations in the markets and uncertainty — slaughtering the breeding cows. And I’d ask you to stop doing that. We need a lot of beef, and we want to make it here in America. We don’t want to be importing it from other countries.”
His statement came just before news that a new U.S.-Argentina trade deal has been signed, primarily to increase ground beef imports to the United States.
The latest cattle inventory report showed no signs of the herd rebuilding. Similarly, year over year, total cattle on feed are now 3 percent lower.
One major factor hindering the U.S. herd rebuild is the pause on feeder cattle imports from Mexico due to the outbreak of New World screwworm. Now, cattle producers will have a new tool in their belt if that disease crosses the southern border.
Boehringer Ingelheim has now been granted the first Emergency Use Authorization for a drug to prevent the parasitic pest. Their drug is called Ivomec. If that sounds familiar, it is because it is the brand name for ivermectin, a drug widely used to treat parasites in livestock.
Ivomec is injectable and is given to calves within 24 hours of birth, at castration, or when a wound appears. While female dairy cows that are actively producing milk cannot use this treatment, the drug can be used to treat other types of cattle, pigs, and even reindeer.
NCBA Announces New Leadership, Environmental Awards & Scholarship Recipients
NCBA leadership also announced a new president for the year. Virginia cattleman Gene Copenhaver will lead the beef industry group through 2026.
“I’ll go to my grave saying our greatest strength is grassroots,” Copenhaver said.
Copenhaver currently manages his family’s stocker operation in southwest Virginia with his son, Will, and was an agriculture loan officer for 38 years. He has been married to his wife, Jodi, for more than 35 years, and they have three grown children—Brad, Will, and Jaymee—and three granddaughters.
In his address to the 9,400 cattle producers in attendance, Copenhaver outlined his straightforward priorities for the year ahead: “Continue what works, stay grounded in grassroots input, remain open-minded, and focus on profitability.” Copenhaver wants every sector and every scale of operation to be viable.
“We can’t build the future if every good year gets taxed away before we can shore up our infrastructure,” he said.
NCBA also announced the honorees for its 2025 Environmental Stewardship Award Program (ESAP) and recognized the 10 winners of scholarships through the National Cattlemen’s Foundation (NCF) awarded to students pursuing careers in the beef industry.
The ESAP National winner was selected from the following 2025 regional honorees:
- Region I: Whispering Hills Farm, Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
- Region II: M&D Overstreet Ranch, Kathleen, Florida
- Region III: Smith Family Farms, Bankston, Iowa
- Region IV: McFaddin Ranch, Victoria, Texas
- Region V: G&G Livestock and Cathey Cattle Company, Polson, Montana
- Region VII: Wine Glass Ranch, Imperial, Nebraska
The 2026 CME Group Beef Industry Scholarship recipients are:
- Grant Boyd of Leon, Iowa, Iowa State University
- Shay Burian of Manning, North Dakota, Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture
- Natalie Dietrich of Lubbock, Texas, Texas Tech University
- John Garcia of Baker City, Oregon, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
- Olivia Hadrick of Faulkton, South Dakota, South Dakota State University
- William Kemp of Bishop, California, school to be determined
- Luke McCrea of Maysville, Missouri, Iowa State University
- Gavin Rhode of Stewartsville, Missouri, University of Missouri–Columbia
- Nathan Rippe of Indianola, Nebraska, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
- Emma Whitlock of Milan, Missouri, Kansas State University
Congratulations to all the well-deserved award and scholarship winners. We look forward to seeing you again in Nashville next year for CattleCon 2027!
