Tariffs are also top of mind for farmers and ranchers. Leaders at R-Calf are closely watching news out of the White House and say U.S. trade needs to be rebalanced in favor of U.S. producers.
“The best way to reverse this is to impose tariffs on imported products as to level the playing field between our domestic producers and the cheaper imported products. The tariffs would have the effect of elevating the cheaper product value, and so our domestic producers can then compete on a level playing field,” said Bill Bullard.
Cattle producers are eager for tomorrow’s Cattle on Feed Report. However, the Farm Bureau says it is this month’s Cattle Inventory Report that will catch a lot of eyes.
“We’re anticipating some decrease in the overall cattle inventory. Overall, if we look at the industry expectations, what some of the analysts are throwing out there, they’re expecting even placements from last year, or even 101 percent of last year, and I find this a little bit surprising. Even if we look at a one to two percent decline, that still brings us down to that 86-and-a-half million mark, and that’s still the fewest cattle we’ve had in 73 years,” said Bernt Nelson.
The January Cattle Inventory Report comes out on January 31st at 3:00 PM Eastern.
