It was quite a week in cattle country. A viral headline said one in five steers in American feedlots is lactating. Then the president announced said 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef is coming in at 25% below market. We’re diving into all of it on this episode of Ranch Beat.
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Show Notes
The lactating steer study: Petit, Eckhardt, Lucherk, Schwartz, Brown and Lawrence, “Outcomes of Unintended Consequences: Frequency of Lactation and Intact Males and Their Impact in Finished Cattle.” West Texas A&M University with a Cargill co-author. AMSA 2024 abstract, expanded as a poster at the 2025 Plains Nutrition Council Spring Conference.
The beef import announcement: Trump to allow import of 300,000 metric tons of ground beef without tariff (CNBC)
The fight inside the administration: “Knives out”: Internal fighting skewers Trump’s beef tariff plan (E&E News by POLITICO)
MCOOL and the Farm Bill: Senate advances beef MCOOL even as Farm Bill stalls (Capital Press)
American Beef Labeling Act, S.421
R-CALF USA on the House Farm Bill and the MCOOL amendment
Beef prices: BLS average price, fresh regular 100% ground beef, via FRED. $6.885 per pound, July 2026.
Special thanks to Josh Woolwine for creating our intro. Follow Josh at www.instagram.com/hjwoolwine.
