NASHVILLE, TENN. (RFD-TV) — Officials on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border remain eager to see a reopening of cattle imports from Mexico as both nations fight the spread of New World Screwworm. However, market analyst Sam Hudson told RFD-TV News that nothing will happen quickly.
“As cold as we are here in the Central U.S, it’d be nice to get some of that up here in a safe manner, and maybe eradicate some of those fears,” Hudson said. “But it’s just going to take time to figure out all the logistics of it. I’m hard-pressed to think that we’re not going to see some clinks along the way as we go through those efforts. So I think that’s going to continue to contribute some volatility here.”
The U.S.-Mexico border has been closed since spring due to concerns of the New World screwworm. Just recently, another case was confirmed in Mexico, 120 miles south of the border. So far, no cases have been confirmed here in the U.S. during this current outbreak.
Cattle leaders in Nebraska say they are adjusting to recent shakeups by Tyson, but warn that the ‘Big Four’ Beef Packer packer’s closure in the state is leaving a big hole that could be difficult to fill. “We’ve been working with this plant since its inception -- and even before it was here -- we’ve always had packing capacity right here in Dawson County,” explained Craig Uden, Nebraska Cattle Feeder and President-Elect of the Nebraska Cattlemen Board of Directors. “So Tyson came along, we had plants like Cornland at the time of it, a Cargill plant, and they shut down when this plant took over.”
Uden says other options in the state are limited, and he is most concerned about the smaller operations’ ability to absorb added costs.
On the consumer side, beef prices remain high. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-SD, told RFD-TV News that consumer prices are where they need to be for the record-low herd to expand.
“What I try to tell my urban colleagues and the white house is not to get so nervous about the fact that prices are pretty good for the cattle guys right now, because they need that money in their pockets,” Rep. Johnson said. “If they’re going to go out and buy more pastureland and buy more heifers, if we want more American beef, we have got to have them believe that they can have good prices long enough to recover that investment. And so, I don’t love seeing that shackle space disappear because I do think it makes it harder for us to build that herd in a long-term, sustainable way.”
We’ll get another read on the U.S. cattle herd next week when the USDA drops its Cattle on Feed Report, due out next Friday afternoon.
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