LEXINGTON, Ky. — Cattlemen across Kentucky are, by now, fully aware of the fire that broke out on August 9 at one of the largest beef packing plants in the U.S., owned by Tyson Fresh Meats, and the impact on the already stressed beef market that has ensued this last month.
Since that day, KCA has continued to hear from concerned members and producers on the lingering effects that the cattle market still continues to see. We have worked closely with state and federal legislation, other state cattlemen’s associations, and cattle commodity groups to support the ongoing investigation into beef pricing margins that was announced by Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on August 28. However, it has been over a month since the event and volatility persists in the market making risk management decisions even more difficult for cattlemen.
Because of this, and as part of these continuing efforts, we are planning a Town Hall Meeting in Lebanon, KY the first week of October to hear from you and address these issues the best way we can. Please continue to watch for more information on when and where this Town Hall Meeting will take place. Similarly, below you will see additional outlets where you can voice your concern and help raise awareness to this persisting issue.
Senate Agriculture Committee Hearing
U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry announced the Committee will hold a hearing titled, “Perspectives on the Livestock and Poultry Sectors” on Wednesday, September 25 at 10:00a EST. Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell is a majority member of this committee. Members are encouraged to contact Senator McConnell’s office at (202) 224-2541 ahead of this meeting. In addition, National Cattlemen’s Association President, Jennifer Houston, will be testifying at the committee hearing. You can contact Jennifer at jhouston@beef.org.
#FairCattleMarkets Twitter Campaign
The Western Ag Reporter announced a grassroots campaign aimed at President Donald Trump to voice continued frustration with low cattle prices and high packer profits. Initiated by Joe Goggin, general manager of Public Auction Yards in Billing, MT, this campaign urges cattle producers to send President Trump a tweet asking for #FairCattleMarkets.
Letters of Support
Both the American Farm Bureau Federation and the Livestock Marketing Association have recently released letters of support to USDA’s Under Secretary Greg Ibach supporting the USDA’s Packers and Stockyards Division investigation into beef pricing margins.
In AFBFs letter, President Zippy Duvall writes, “We strongly encourage that USDA, through the Packers and Stockyards Division, use its authority to monitor the markets to prevent unfair practices, as well as to provide all grading and auditing services necessary at surrounding plants to support the increased demand and capacity at those facilities.”
LMA goes further requesting that, “The USDA investigation should analyze issues related to competition in a larger context than the fire, including looking at issues experienced due to lack of competition in the entire live cattle marketing complex.”
Tyson Foods Update
The National Cattlemen’s Association hosted a conference call with officials from Tyson Foods and the state cattlemen’s affiliates, allowing management from Tyson to give an update on the Holcomb, KS facility. From that call, Tyson stated that crews are assessing the damage to the south end of the plant that had been damaged by the fire. Tyson also stated that, “they have not been able to absorb the entire capacity of approximately 30,000 head per week in their facilities. However, they have absorbed some capacity in other plants through added hours and additional Saturday shifts. They stated that there has been no incremental increase in cattle imports and the slaughter mix between beef and dairy cattle being processed in the company’s plants remains the same as prior to the fire”.
USDA Update
Also from the NCBA conference call, Colin Woodall, NCBA Senior Vice President for Government Affairs announced that according to USDA Under Secretary Greg Ibach, “the government initially intended to conduct an audit of information from the agency’s market news service. However, upon further consideration, USDA is pursuing a full investigation of cattle and beef markets, to include retail data”. Under Secretary Ibach also indicated that the data collection process could take a month or more, with the results of the investigation near the end of the year, or perhaps in early 2020.
Moving forward – KCA will continue to monitor this investigation and work with our cattle producers in Kentucky to do everything we can to help resolve this issue. Our office is always open to producers and you can contact us anytime at 859-278-0899 or by email at info@kycattle.org.
— Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association
For more news from Kentucky, click here.