Fall LMD 2026

NEWSPAPER PRIORITY HANDLING

Dear Readers, BY LEE PITTS

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his is a letter/story I was hoping I’d never have to write. Let me begin at the end. This will be the last issue of the Livestock Market Digest you’ll ever read. (Don’t worry, to fulfill your paid-up subscription, you’ll receive a great monthly magazine, the New Mexico Stockman which is also owned by Caren Cowan the current owner of the Digest. As in the past, you’ll be able to read my column in the Stockman because I will continue to write my syndicated column.) This is a very sad and melancholy moment for me as I have had a lifelong relationship with the Digest going back to my high school days. Every Monday in my freshman vocational agriculture class Mr. Woods, my ag teacher, would make us write a report on some story gleaned from all the publications we got at our high school ag library. Then Mr. Woods would pick at random four or five students to get up in front of the class and present our report in the form of a speech. The Livestock Market Digest was my go-to source for writing those reports. This writing and speaking proved to be great training which helped me win the California speech contest and to get elected State President continued on page 2 of the FFA. Little did I know then that I’d one day become the owner of the Digest and be the

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Livestock Market Digest

DEAR READERS, cont from pg 1 executive editor and columnist for 43 years. So my connection to the Digest can be traced back over 60 years. I feel a great sense of guilt letting down the Digest readers and others who think like I do that our beef industry is under assault like never before from animal rightists, misguided environmentalists, climate change fanatics, politicians, greedy multinational meatpackers and lately the Trump administration. I fear for the future of independent ranchers in this country and I feel a sense of shame that I will no longer be a combatant in the fight for our future. There are many reasons that Caren and I came to a mutual decision to shut down the Digest and amongst the biggest reasons is my health. I’ll be 75 years old soon, suffered a debilitating stroke five years ago and I’m in ill health and it’s gotten so bad that sometimes I cannot write at all and when I do I can’t even remember words, which is not a good trait for a writer to have. It now takes me at least three times the time to write something and having to meet six deadlines a month (a 2,300 word story for the front page of the Digest and five articles for my syndicated column) has become too much of a burden and the stress is impacting my health in a negative way. I also feel ashamed for being responsible for the demise of a publication that’s been around since 1953. The Digest was conceived by a brilliant man

by the name of Tad Sanders who was head of the Livestock Marketing Association back then. To better serve LMA member livestock auction yards Tad came up with the idea that the LMA would publish a weekly newspaper and individual markets could then have the back page of the paper to report the market, advertise upcoming special sales, sell their own ads or anything else they wanted to include. To the casual observer it appeared that each market had their own newspaper, which was the whole idea. So many markets liked Tad’s idea that almost overnight the Digest became the largest livestock weekly in the country with over 100,000 readers. The way it worked was that each individual market would call a phone number at Huse Publishing in Norfolk, Nebraska, and dictate their prices for that day’s auction and copy for upcoming ads. Two wonderful ladies there would transform those dictations into copy and the paper would be printed the following day. This meant that Huse had to publish six days a week so that the mailing list made up of customers of the participating markets would receive the paper before the next sale. The paper’s success depended on the U.S. Postal service to deliver the papers in a timely manner which, although is hard to believe these days, they originally did. During its first 20 years the Digest did not depend for its profitability on bull sale advertising or real estate ads but as postage costs shot through the roof they decided it was time

Livestock Market Digest (1SSN 0024-5208) (USPS NO. 712320) is published monthly except semi-monthly in September in Albuquerque, N.M. 87104 by Livestock Market Digest, Inc. Periodicals Postage Paid at Albuquerque, N.M.

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Livestock Market Digest P.O. Box 7458 Albuquerque, N.M. 87194 Telephone: 505-243-9515 Fax: 505-349-3060 www.aaalivestock.com EDITORIAL and ADVERTISING STAFF CAREN COWAN ����������������Publisher LEE PITTS . . . . . . . . . . Executive Editor CHUCK STOCKS . . . . Publisher Emeritus RANDY SUMMERS ���������������Sales FALL MARKETING EDITION AD SALES

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to see if they could sell some bull sale ads in return for ring service and so they asked Bill Lefty, the leading sale manager in the West, “Who be a good prospect to fill that job?” They asked Bill because he was one of the few people that recognized the power of advertising in the Digest. Bill had been advertising the sales he managed for a while and he had very good results in putting bidders in the seats. Bill gave the LMA my name and suggested they hire me as an independent contractor to sell ads and work ring. At the same time the LMA was doing this, unbeknownst to me, they were actually trying to sell the paper to already existing weekly livestock newspapers but nobody wanted to buy it because of the complexity of publishing six days a week. When I finally found out the paper was for sale I asked the LMA if I could buy it as I was having very good luck selling bull sale ads in the Digest in return for working ring at the sales, which was how business was done in those days. The LMA, said sure, if I thought I could pull it off. The problem for me was that although I’d worked a total of seven years for the Western Livestock Journal as a field editor in two different territories that stretched from Texas to California and also included Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada, I had no idea whatsoever how to publish a newspaper. But I knew someone who did. While living in Albuquerque I became friends with the publisher of the New Mexico Stockman, Chuck Stocks. To my way of thinking Chuck was the best in the business so I asked him if he wanted to partner on the Digest deal. Chuck was quick to realize the potential of the Digest. Even though I had enough money to swing the deal I wanted two other partners whose ownership would almost guarantee the success of our paper. These two people were Bill Lefty, who was already the biggest advertiser in the Digest, and Skinner Hardy who was my best friend, a brilliant businessman and the owner of the Western Stockman’s Market north of Bakersfield, California. If Skinner would start an edition of the paper we’d have the California market sewn up with the mailing lists of four of the top five auction markets in the state. No one could compete against that. Skinner proved his worth immediately when the four of us went to the LMA office in Kansas City to purchase the paper. I was awed by Skinner’s deal making ability and we walked out of that meeting as the new

owners of the Digest. On August 29, 1983, we put out our first issue, a 20-page paper with a picture of Allan Savory on the cover and a story about his radical ideas about livestock grazing. That was 43 years ago. Chuck’s office was already handling the details of Allan’s schools and Allan ended up marrying one of Chuck’s employees. Chuck introduced me to Allan and I don’t think I’ve ever been more impressed with a person than I was at our first meeting. From that point forward the Digest would be a big supporter of Allan’s ideas that are now accepted and used by hundreds of thousands of ranches all across America, not to mention the world. Another person I felt would be key to the Digest’s success was Baxter Black. In my very first conversation with him I explained how the Digest was distributed and being the intelligent person that he was he grasped the concept immediately. After just a few weeks he called and explained how the coverage he received by having his column in the Digest had resulted in a significant increase in his book sales and in dates booked for his fabulous shows. Over the years we became dear friends and I profoundly miss Baxter. As did the Digest readers after he passed away. I also convinced Aaron Dudley, former editor of Western Livestock Journal, to write a column for us and for many years Jerry Welch wrote a column about the futures markets that proved to be very popular. Another of Chuck’s brilliant hires for the Digest was a wonderful young lady by the name of Carol Wilson who became our editor and wrote the front-page story every week. She also wrote a column about the price of beef per ounce compared to a variety of products on grocery store shelves that was probably the most well received article we’ve ever published. Carol’s tenure was much too short when she and her husband Rex decided to return to the ranch. Carol had become such a valuable part of the Digest that I thought when she left the paper was a goner for sure. Her leaving meant that I had to start writing the frontpage story besides writing a weekly column, working ring at sales all over the west, visiting auction yards and writing stories about them, selling new markets their own editions, getting all the copy necessary for the ads, etc. And that didn’t include my announcing auctions every month for 20 years for Western Video Market all over the country. In addition, my wife and I had a ranch to run and we had a thriving book business. In look-

ing back now I don’t know how I did it all. The very first issue of the paper proved that having Bill Lefty as part owner was a very good decision as he had several ads in the first edition that included a full-page dispersion for Buena Vista Brangus and several other large ads scattered throughout the paper. In addition, that first paper included ads for the American Hereford Association and the Red Angus Association. It also had bull sale ads for Redd Ranches, Rancho Casino, Bright Brothers Herefords, Tehama Angus and Skinner Hardy’s All Breed Bull sale. That was also the first time Skinner’s auction had its own edition of the Digest. Over the ensuing years we would add new editions for the paper all over the west. I couldn’t work the ring in exchange for ALL the bull sale ads who were advertising with us so over the course of a few years we added some of the best ring men in the business including Delvin Heldermon, Jerry York, Jay Purchase and Don Doris, all former Western Livestock Journal Field Editors. Then we got blindsided. One of our competitors complained to their congressman that we were abusing our second class mailing permit because they said that subscribers had to individually pay for their subscription and that in our case the auction markets were paying, even though some charged for a newspaper subscription by having the cost deducted from their check for selling cattle. This is the way it had been done since the Digest’s inception but all of a sudden, this became a problem. This meant if we wanted to stay in business we could no longer have individual newspapers for all the auction markets we served and would have to convert our 42,000 circulation to subscribers who paid for the paper themselves. Now you know why I detest the U.S. Postal Service. Over time it turned out that this was actually a good thing because the way the Post Office kept increasing postal rates it made it cost prohibitive for the auction markets. Add in the rapidly increasing cost for printing and paper and all of a sudden it was better to have a smaller circulation. And thus began the slow demise of the Digest. In a way we’re lucky it lasted this long. The Record Stockman went out of business years ago, the mighty Drover’s Journal stopped printing a paper and went strictly to the Internet very early and Cattle Today, in the southeast, also closed their doors for good. Many others have done the

Subscription Information

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ee made his decision to retire before the subscription renewal went out for the Livestock Market Digest in June. Thus, many subscriptions have expired. We hope that those folks will subscribe to the New Mexico Stockman via the ad on page 3. Lee’s columns will continue to run in the Stockman. There will be plenty of news and information about the cattle industry and more. For those who have paid-up Digest subscriptions, you will receive three free months of the Stockman. The Digest has long had a policy that subscriptions are non-refundable. Should you have questions about your subscription, please contact me at carenroad1053@ gmail.com.

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2026 Fall Marketing Edition same thing or are considering it. The BIG question is, will there be any print publications in the future or will it all migrate to the Internet? When I became deathly ill Skinner and I sold out to Chuck who later sold his New Mexico Stockman and the Digest to a wonderful lady who knew the livestock publishing business as well as anyone, Caren Cowan. And so here we are today. I think the only reason Caren kept the paper going this long was for me to still have a voice about the direction the cattle business was going. I’d like to publicly thank Caren for being so good to work with and for her dedication to the industry. Awhile back a very good friend of mine told me something that I was shocked to hear. It was about something Dick Nock had told him. While the LMA had the paper Dick had a weekly column in the Digest and he was irritated when we dropped it. Despite that, Dick and I still had a friendly relationship that was strained to the breaking point when Dick and I bumped heads big time over NCBA’s heist of the beef checkoff. So I was surprised when my friend told me that Dick Nock had told him before he died that, “Lee Pitts did more for the small guy in the cattle business than anyone.” If what Dick Nock said is true, and I hope it is, then the Livestock Market Digest’s mission will have been fulfilled. In closing, I’d like to thank all the Digest readers and all those who made it possible for me to become a member of that great fraternity of people known as ranchers. May your cattle all grade Prime, your horses never buck, the wolves never visit and the rain clouds always do. Sincerely, Lee Pitts

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Livestock Market Digest

and constrain producThis action also directs the Dairy Producers No Longer costs tion,” said U.S. Secretary of Agricultural Marketing SerBrooke L. Rollvice to ensure no research Subject to Environmental, Agriculture ins. and promotion funds in other commodity checkoffs advance Under the Dairy ProducSocial, & Governance tion Stabilization Act, checkoff ESG mandates. American profunds are authorized for promo- ducers substantially fund these (ESG) Overregulation tion, research, and nutrition ed- checkoff programs through

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he US Department of Agriculture has reaffirmed the Administration’s commitment to American farmers, announcing decisive action to end dairy checkoff funding for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) overregulation. This action aligns research and promotion activities with the Department’s priorities and the original mission of the check-

offs. USDA remains committed to ensuring that every dollar collected from American producers serves American agriculture for the better. “American dairy producers, cattle ranchers, and farmers pay checkoff assessments so those dollars can build demand for their products - not bankroll radical climate agendas that raise

ucation that strengthen markets for U.S. dairy. The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, established through the checkoff, has pursued extensive ESG initiatives, including greenhouse-gas and net-zero targets. USDA’s action ends checkoff support for those ESG-related projects while allowing necessary administrative functions that do not advance such agendas.

mandatory assessments. Those funds must serve their statutory purpose of strengthening markets for agriculture – not advance misguided external ESG agendas that can raise costs or potentially constrain production.

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Wendell Berry Taught This Vegan How to Eat BY MOLLIE ENGELHART VIA EPOCH TIMES

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endell Berry’s words are painted in enormous letters on the side of a shipping container outside my restaurant: “Eating is an agricultural act.” Customers walk past those words every day. My children have grown up around them. I have walked past them thousands of times on my way between the restaurant and the farm, moving through a life that looks almost nothing like the life I was living when I first encountered Berry. I was a vegan chef then. Not casually vegan. I built restaurants around that conviction. I believed deeply that abstaining from animal products was one of the clearest ways I could reduce suffering in the world. I loved animals, and the moral equation seemed fairly simple: Animals wanted to live; therefore killing them to eat was wrong. Then I read Berry. There was one passage in particular that gave me goosebumps. I remember reading it

2026 Fall Marketing Edition

Livestock Market Digest and having that strange experience of encountering something that contradicted almost everything I believed and simultaneously knowing, somewhere deeper than belief, that it was true. “To live, we must daily break the body and shed the blood of Creation,” it read. Berry went on to make the distinction that changed something fundamental in me. We can participate in that reality “knowingly, lovingly, skillfully, reverently,” or we can participate in it ignorantly and destructively. I had spent years believing that there was a way out of the moral dilemma of eating. Berry was telling me there wasn’t. We eat life. Plants are alive. Animals are alive. Agriculture participates constantly in birth, death, decomposition, and renewal. There is no human diet that allows us to stand outside of that cycle. The question isn’t whether something dies so that we can live. The question is what kind of relationship we have with the lives and deaths that sustain us. It was almost the opposite of everything I had understood to be true, and I knew it was right. Berry did not make me care less about animals. If anything, he demanded that I care more. His argument was never that animals don’t matter or that their suffering should be dismissed because humans want to

eat them. In his 1989 essay “The Pleasures of Eating,” Berry wrote that although he was not a vegetarian, he disliked the idea that an animal had been made miserable in order to feed him. He wanted his meat to come from an animal that had lived outdoors, uncrowded, on good pasture, with water and shade. Some people, Berry acknowledged, would consider it bloodthirsty to eat an animal you had known throughout its life. His answer was that knowing the animal allows you to eat “with understanding and with gratitude.” Today, I know exactly what he meant. I did not read Berry one afternoon, eat a steak that eve-

and pray for rain, to move cattle onto fresh grass, to notice whether an animal is thriving and whether the pasture is improving beneath its feet. I know individual animals. I know their personalities and their habits. I know which cow will let me walk up to her and which one wants nothing to do with me. And I know what it means when an animal I have cared for becomes nourishment for my family or someone else’s. That intimacy is not a moral failure. Berry helped me understand that it could be precisely the opposite. Modern industrial food has allowed us to confuse distance with innocence. We outsource the growing, killing, slaughtering, and processing and then

full awareness of where our food comes from can reveal our dependence upon “creatures we did not make and powers we cannot comprehend.” That is a radically different way to think about food, and it changed my life. When I first read Berry, I believed the most ethical relationship I could have with an animal was not to eat it. Today I believe my responsibility is much larger than that. I have to know the animals. I have to care for them. I have to care for the soil beneath them and the water they drink. I have to give them a life appropriate to their nature. And when their lives become nourishment for mine, I have to receive that nourishment without pretending nothing died.

Red shipping container outside Mollie Engelhart’s restaurant painted with the quote “Eating is an agricultural act” from Wendell Berry, a legendary agrarian writer and thinker, who died on Aug. 31, 2026 at 92. Courtesy of Mollie Engelhart

ning, and become a regenerative farmer the next morning. Transformations are rarely that tidy. But he opened a crack in a worldview that had previously felt complete, and through that crack came questions I could no longer stop asking. If death is unavoidable in agriculture, then what does ethical agriculture actually look like? If grazing animals can build soil, cycle nutrients, and create fertility, is removing animals from agriculture necessarily kinder? If cattle can convert grasses humans cannot eat into nutrient-dense food while participating in the fertility of a landscape, is that morally inferior to a crop simply because the deaths involved in growing the crop are less visible to the eater? Most importantly, I began to wonder whether my job was really to remove myself from the cycle of life and death, or whether my responsibility was to enter that cycle consciously. Eventually, I did. I went from being a vegan chef in Los Angeles to becoming a farmer and rancher in Texas. Today I raise animals that I love, and some of those animals eventually become food. There was a time when I would have considered that sentence an irreconcilable contradiction. Today, I don’t. Raising animals has not made eating meat less serious for me. It has made it infinitely more serious. I know what it means to bring an animal into the world and care for it. I know what it means to keep water in front of animals through a Texas summer, to watch the sky during a drought

encounter food beneath fluorescent lights, wrapped neatly in plastic. We have removed ourselves so completely from agriculture that we can imagine ourselves merely as consumers rather than participants. Berry refused that abstraction. “I begin with the proposition that eating is an agricultural act,” he wrote in “The Pleasures of Eating.” That sentence eventually became important enough to me that I painted it on a building. What I did not understand when I was vegan was that avoiding meat did not remove me from agriculture’s consequences. I could care intensely about the visible death of a cow while knowing very little about the mouse, snake, bird, insect, or soil organism affected by producing my plant-based meal. I could know whether an ingredient was vegan without knowing the farmer who grew it, the condition of the soil, how much water was used, what chemicals were applied, or what ecosystem had been displaced. Farming destroyed that simplicity for me because the land itself is not simple. A farm is birth and death happening simultaneously. Grass becomes cow. Manure becomes fertility. Dead plants become soil. Microbes consume and are consumed. A calf is born in the same pasture where something else has died. Everything is eating, and eventually everything is eaten, including us. Berry understood that the answer to this reality was not despair or denial. It was gratitude. He wrote that eating with

That isn’t less reverence for life than I had when I was vegan. It is more. Berry died in August at 92 years old, at home in Kentucky. His words, however, are still painted on the shipping container outside my restaurant. They have become so familiar that sometimes I probably walk past without consciously reading them: “Eating is an agricultural act.” I understand those five words very differently today from how I did when I first encountered them. Berry gave me goosebumps all those years ago because he put words to something I had not yet learned from the land: Life does not exist apart from death. We cannot make ourselves innocent by refusing to look at that exchange. We can only decide how we will participate in it—knowingly or ignorantly, wastefully or carefully, with indifference or with gratitude. I have spent much of my adult life trying to choose gratitude. May I be worthy of my meat. Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. About the author: Mollie Engelhart, regenerative farmer and rancher at Sovereignty Ranch, is committed to food sovereignty, soil regeneration, and educating on homesteading and self-sufficiency. She is the author of “Debunked by Nature”: Debunk Everything You Thought You Knew About Food, Farming, and Freedom—a raw, riveting account of her journey from vegan chef and LA restaurateur to hands-in-the-dirt farmer, and how nature shattered her cultural programming.

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2026 Fall Marketing Edition

Livestock Market Digest

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Lee Pitts The man, the legend, the friend... BY CAROL WILSON

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ee Pitts once wrote that he wouldn’t know a split infinitive from an idiomatic expression if it slapped him up side of the head. And yes, using humor to explain life is a classic tool in the Lee Pitts arsenal, but the truth is Lee’s legions of readers aren’t the grammar police. They are men and women who care for the land and the livestock, and they care about Lee because he is one of them. He has been on their ranches, eaten at their tables, worked their livestock sales, and knows cattle business as a cattleman. His hard-hitting news stories simplify extremely complicated policy issues, and he is an unapologetic, tireless defender of the nation’s independent livestock producers. Small wonder that Lee’s 40plus years of championing the

2026 Fall Marketing Edition

Livestock Market Digest cattleman with his wit and his pen have made him the most trusted, beloved agricultural journalist in the nation.

Sharecropper to a cowman’s voice Lee discovered his life’s work when, as a six-year-old sharecropper, he turned his mom’s flower bed into a Radish Ranch. Producing food was a life-changing experience for young Lee, and he realized he wanted to care for growing things for the rest of his years. He spent the next dozen years as a serial entrepreneur, raising everything from radishes to lambs and even (shudder!) chickens. When he happily became old enough to join the FFA and proudly wear the blue and gold, he earned his American Farmer degree, won California’s state public speaking contest, and became state FFA president. The pursuit and eventual achievement of all three goals provided the foundation for Lee’s lifelong involvement with agriculture and his passionate championing

of the producers of food and fiber across the nation. Lee got his start in the cattle business in 1973, an extraordinarily difficult period for cattle producers. He remembers fed cattle losing money for 19 consecutive months. At 22 years old, he quit his $ 650-a-month cowboy job to accept a position as a field editor for a major livestock newspaper, selling advertising, covering purebred auctions, writing sale reports, working the livestock auction, and taking photographs. He traveled extensively in the heart of the American livestock industry, encountering an extraordinary assortment of people —including celebrities, professional athletes and wealthy livestock investors, as well as mom-and-pop ranchers who were holding on to their land and legacy with a hope and a prayer. The young field editor once found himself at a cocktail party in Arizona standing about 10 feet from the legendary John Wayne. Lee met characters and swapped stories across fence-

lines and spent decades observing ranches and livestock operations all over the country. He clearly loves ranching, but doesn’t pretend ranch life is glamorous. He understands people in the cattle business deal with bad weather, downed fences, onery horses, difficult cows, neighbors, cattle prices, veterinarians, branding disasters, machinery, tourists, government over-reach and regulation, and ever-encroaching technology. Lee writes about these realities, understanding them as only someone who has lived them can.

Breaking the Mold While traveling the country for the livestock industry, Lee traveled often with legendary newsman Chuck Stocks, publisher of the New Mexico Stockman, and shared interests and beliefs with auction market giants Skinner Hardy and Bill Lefty. In the early 1980s, the four men bought the Livestock Market Digest and moved its publication to Albuquerque,

New Mexico. As Executive Editor of the LMD, Lee was never interested in being just another cowboy newspaperman. He was a true investigative journalist and a deep critical thinker. In direct opposition to the other ag reporters of the day, he always looked out for the interests of family ranchers, not the big packers or large feedlot operators. He was and is a man of the people. It didn’t take long for the industry’s power brokers to realize that Lee’s grassroots following was a force to be reckoned with, especially when that following had an intuitive, informed, eloquent spokesman who wasn’t afraid to call things exactly as he saw them. “Sit down with Lee for twenty minutes in an auction-market café and you’ll learn more about the real politics of the cattle business and the economics of rural America than you will in a three-day trade association convention or an ag-school field day,” stated Stocks.

A pen with purpose Lee’s influence comes from more than his ability to write. He believes the independent cattleman deserves to be heard in a world that is becoming increasingly complicated and increasingly removed from the realities of producing food. Lee understands that decisions made far from the ranch can mean the difference between leaving the ranch or staying when they reach the pasture gate. He knows that regulations, market changes and industry trends aren’t merely words on paper. Lee wrote with passion and conviction. With the editorial freedom to write what he believed, Lee’s creativity and commitment to the industry expanded exponentially in the 43 years he edited the Digest. As Lee took on the big packers, government policies and regulations, political correctness, environmental policy, land use, rural-vs-urban attitudes, public land issues and the National Cattleman’s Beef Association (he called association types “the guys in the shiny pants”) in defense of independent cattlemen, he became one of the most beloved figures in the livestock industry. Lee Pitts takes a conversation from a seedstock sale and puts it into print. He gives rural America his voice. Then he takes on the complicated policy issues that will affect the people who work cattle, ride horses, build fences and brand calves, worry about rain and struggle with cattle prices, and explains both the issues and their ramifications simply. He can be funny. He can be blunt. He can be critical. He can be sentimental when the story calls for it. But his writing is always rooted in an understanding of the Western livestock industry and the people who make their living there. Cattlemen read Lee’s writing because they know he understands their frustrations and their hopes. They know that he writes about the cattle business as a cattleman standing beside them. Guided by Lee’s vision of an independent newspaper that was the voice of independent ranchers, readership grew exponentially. At one point, the continued on page 10

2026 Fall Marketing Edition

Riding Herd

by LEE PITTS

My Empty Bucket List

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don’t have a Bucket List of places I want to go before I die but I do have an Empty Bucket List of places I definitely DON’T want to go before I take a long dirt nap. #10 Big Cities — I don’t ever want to go again to a town with a population of over 15,000 people. I grew up in a small town and have lived in

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Livestock Market Digest small towns nearly all my life. Our first home as a married couple was a dinky apartment over a construction office in a town that had a Post Office, a liquor store, hardware store and a popular bar and steakhouse and that’s all a person really needs. If I do happen to end up in Hell when I die I imagine it will look a lot like New York City or San Francisco. #9 Expensive Hotel or Motel — I’ll sleep in my car before I’ll ever spend $350 a night for a room that looks just like Motel 6 when all the lights are off. #8 Weddings — I’ve attended many a wedding knowing the couple had ZERO chance of remaining betrothed. I would have bet money on it if there was only a gambling site like Draft Kings where you could place such a bet. There ought to at least be something called wedding insurance where you could recoup all the money you spent buying the couple an expensive wedding present. #7 Divorce Court — I’ve seen the financial devastation a divorce can cause and I live in fear that my wonderful wife will realize what a bad deal she got and decide to split the sheets. In that case I’d either have to sell the gold in my teeth or go live in a tent or a homeless shel-

ter. #6 Hospital — I’ve been admitted to hospitals in three states and have spent more time in them than I have fishing, which is a lot more fun and much healthier for you. You can’t get to sleep in a hospital and even if you are able to nod off a nurse will wake you to stab you with a needle so you can sleep. #5 On an Airplane — It seems like I’ve spent more time in the air than I have on the ground. For years I traveled on small planes and commercial jets and took to the skies once a week during the fall and spring bull sale seasons. There were three occasions when I thought I was gonna die. One was when the King Air I was traveling in iced up enroute to Cheyenne and we had to make an emergency landing in Rock Springs where it was kinda tough to get a motel room at three A.M. Another time we landed with only one eighth of a gallon of fuel left in the tank and the third episode was when we got disoriented over Donner Pass from forest fire smoke. The pilot was so flummoxed that he failed to call the tower in Reno, Nevada, asking for permission to land. OOPS! #4 Jail — Despite never having spent any time in jail

or a prison I have a recurring dream of becoming some BIG bruiser’s girlfriend in prison. Because I don’t drink or drive a DUI is out of the question and I’ve never killed anyone, never been sued or started a forest fire, I just have this nagging feeling I’ll get wrongly accused of something bad by some disgruntled reader and end up in the Big House. #3 Dentist Office — Ever since Atilla the Hun was my childhood dentist I’ve been mortally afraid of them but all the powerful drugs the docs gave me to keep me alive rotted my teeth and I’ve had 13 teeth

pulled, root canals, caps, and a multitude of other torture devices. For once it would be nice if I didn’t use up our dental insurance during the first week of January. # 2 Fabric Shop — My mother kept us fed by being a seamstress and she’d often drag me along when I was a kid and make me wait in a huge room full of women while she shopped for fabric, buttons, zippers and bric-a-brac. I’ve never been so humiliated in my life. #1 Cemetery — I think this place I don’t want to go is self-explanatory.

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Beef Board Carves Out Nearly $40 Million For ’27 Grants BY PETER VOSKAMP / MEATINGPLACE.COM

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he Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) has earmarked $39.5 million toward a variety of grant proposals — “Authorization Requests” — for its 2027 fiscal year. The money will be spent on beef promotion, research, consumer information, industry information, foreign marketing and producer communications, according to the board. The board’s Beef Promotion Operating Committee (BPOC) made the final decisions on which proposals would make the cut at its September meeting in Denver, Colo. In total the BPOC considered 12 authorization requests amounting to $49.6 million, $10.1 million more than the CBB had budgeted for. The board apportioned the money to — American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture, $750,000. Cattlemen’s Beef Board, $2 million. Meat Foundation, $750,000.

■■ Meat Import Council of America/Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative, $1 million.

■■ Meat Institute/New York Beef Council, $270,000. ■■ National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, $26 million. ■■ United States Cattlemen’s Association/Duke University/University of Florida, $598,000.

■■ U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), $8.1 million. “Each year, our contractors bring forward strong ideas for reaching consumers, strengthening demand for beef and addressing the issues that matter to our industry,” Cheryl DeVuyst, chair of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and the Beef Promotion Operating Committee, said in a statement. “With limited Checkoff dollars available, our responsibility is to carefully evaluate those opportunities and invest in the programs we believe can deliver the greatest value for beef producers.” The CBB’s full fiscal 2027 budget is $43.9 million, an increase of 3.4 percent, or $1.5 million, over the $42.4 million FY26 budget.

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Page 8

2026 Fall Marketing Edition

Livestock Market Digest

The First U.S. Horse Case of New World Screw worm is Detected in Texas

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he first case of New World Screwworm to infect a horse has been detected in a Texas county, according to RFD News on September 14. The U.S. Equestrian Federation said the infestation occurred in the hind limb of a working ranch horse. The Texas Animal Health Commission detected the case and issued an order banning the movement of warm-blooded animals outside a designated zone within Presidio and Jeff Davis counties, according to Reuters. This comes after growing concerns that smuggled animals, including horses, could be a possible host for screwworm. Sheriffs recently seized a trailer carrying six horses because it illegally crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico, bypassing veterinary inspections, quarantine measures, and health certifications..

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Understanding Beef Imports DERRELL S. PEEL, OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION LIVESTOCK MARKETING SPECIALIST

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ecent highly publicized plans to allow up to an additional 300,000 metric tons (661 million pounds) of beef imports tariff-free have received much attention and have been the subject of considerable misinformation and disinformation. Reasonable and useful discussion about beef trade policy is appropriate when it is based on valid information rather than mistaken information and wild social media speculation. The U.S. has imported beef for many years to supplement certain products in the total U.S. beef supply (Figure 1). Through much of the period, the major sources were Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. More recently, Mexico has become a bigger source of beef imports. Beef imports have increased sharply since 2024 in response to declining total beef production. Brazil has increased rapidly and is currently the number two source of beef imports slightly behind Australia. For the first seven months of 2026, Canada, Mexico and New Zealand ranked three, four and five, in that order, followed by Uruguay, Argentina, Nicaragua, and Paraguay. Beef imports are up 12.9 percent year over year thus far in 2026. Most beef imports are used in food service with very little showing up in retail grocery stores. An estimated 68 percent of beef imports are lean trimmings and lean beef used primarily as ingredients for the U.S. ground beef industry (Figure 2). The U.S. does not direct-

ly import ground beef. Imported beef is most frequently used as an ingredient in ground beef formulations for quick service restaurants. Various fast-food restaurants may use imported beef in ground beef in very specific proportions with stringent specifications. Imported beef currently makes up an estimated 39 percent of the total beef used for ground beef (Figure 3). This is a significantly higher percentage than average over the past twenty years due to the current reduction in domestic cow and bull beef supplies. See CowCalf Corner | April 27, 2026 | Oklahoma State University for a more detailed discussion of the ground beef industry. Brazil will likely be the biggest beneficiary of the removal of over-quota tariffs this fall. Beef imports that would have been subject to the tariff will now enter the U.S. tariff-free. However, it is unlikely that beef imports will increase an additional 300,000 metric tons. Imported beef is used in specific markets and in specific ways that were being met even with tariffs. Reducing the tariffs may change the sources of beef imports with Australia and New Zealand likely losing market share to South America. Total beef imports will probably increase some beyond what would have happened anyway but not the full amount. Imported beef has little impact on ground beef in retail grocery stores and ground beef prices at retail are not expected to be much impacted by this policy change. Derrell Peel, OSU Extension livestock marketing specialist, says beef demand is holding steady going into fall on SunUpTV from September 12, 2026. youtube.com/ watch?v=D1nprnMk_Dk

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Farm Bill Passes Out of Senate Ag Committee SOURCE: OHIO COUNTRY JOURNAL

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enator Mitch McConnell, back from a three-month health absence, cast the winning Ag Committee vote to send the Senate farm bill that Democrats blocked in August to the full chamber. McConnell, true to his word to help pass a farm bill, cast the 12th GOP vote needed to advance the Senate farm bill. Committee approval was a victory for Chair John Boozman despite a last-minute fight over a GOP amendment to reform livestock production standards to deal with California’s Prop 12. “It’s been almost a decade since Congress last passed a farm bill,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall. “In the past 10 years, more than 200,000 family farms have gone out of business, as farmers grappled with a pandemic, global unrest, rising expenses and falling prices paid for the food they grow. “A new, modernized farm bill will help give farmers the tools they need to survive continued and unforeseen challenges ahead. A strong farm bill ensures an abundant and safe food supply. It benefits every family in America, regardless of their political affiliation.” The beef industry continues to be divided over mandatory country of origin labeling (MCOOL). Senate Majority Leader John Thune secured an amendment in the Senate Agriculture Committee’s Agricultural Act of 2026 directing the USDA and U.S. Trade Representative to design a WTO-compliant MCOOL framework within one year. The National Pork Producers Council weighed in, pointing out that with various hurdles cleared, it is now time for leaders in D.C. to hear the persistent, urgent plea of America’s 60,000-plus pork producers to finally stop the threat of a state-by-state patchwork of farm animal housing laws spurred by California Proposition 12. “America’s pork producers deserve a robust farm bill, which should come with protection from being forced to rebuild our barns every time another state decides it knows what is best for animal welfare,” said Rob Brenneman, NPPC president. Farm groups, including the American Soybean Association, urged lawmakers to continue bipartisan negotiations and work together to build the broad support necessary for passage. Noting that bipartisan commitment must continue across Congress to deliver a final farm bill that can be signed into law. Other groups say the legislation that was passed out of committee Wednesday doesn’t go far enough for American farm families. “We need to hold two truths at once,” said National Farmers Union President Rob Larew. “This farm bill delivers some real improvements, and it will not stop the crisis farmers and ranchers are living through right now. “Family farmers are caught between rising input costs, concentrated corporate power, and a farm safety net that no longer reflects the realities of farming today. American families are struggling with high prices and lack of robust nutrition programs. “Incremental fixes won’t reverse that. We need bigger, bolder reform of farm policy. Without it, farms will keep going out of business, and rural communities and American families will pay the price. “As this farm bill moves forward, NFU will keep working with Congress to think beyond this bill and build farm and food policy that works for all American families.” The question now is when Majority Leader John Thune will put the farm bill on the Senate floor, given the body’s in for just days before the November elections.

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2026 Fall Marketing Edition

Page 9

Livestock Market Digest

42nd Annual Production Sale President’s Day Monday, February 15, 2027

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Page 10

2026 Fall Marketing Edition

Livestock Market Digest

LEE PITTS

cont from pg 6

Digest had the largest circulation of any livestock publication in the country. When Lee Pitts opened a can of worms, the entire industry heard about it. “For the past 45 years, no matter what the issue, people across the cattle business have always wanted to know the same thing: ‘What’s Lee Pitts got to say about it?’” related Stocks. “Lee adds color to complicated policy issues in a way that forces the reader to think about the outcome from a different perspective,” stated Bob Bullard of R-Calf USA. “He uses wit, humor and insightful analysis to attack and describe what producers face.”

A way with words Lee earned the veneration of thousands of readers for his hard-hitting front-page stories

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on the serious issues facing agriculture, but he also entertains and delights readers with his humor and ready wit about the cattle business and the people who make it work. His writing about bad horses, recalcitrant cattle, disasters on branding day, cattle prices and the greenhorn’s visit to the ranch can make a cattleman laugh at the absurdities of his own life. Cattlemen and women all over the country feel like Lee just wrote about them and their last ranching fiasco…whether it is calves getting out or a confrontation with a greenie environmentalist. Making people laugh and making people aware

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of serious issues threatening their livelihood, that combination was Lee’s gift. Lee’s regular column, “Riding Herd,” which he later syndicated for publication in rural media across the nation, became a huge hit with readers from all walks of life. Lee doesn’t simply write, “This is how ranching works.” Instead, he writes what happens when ranching goes wrong, and what ridiculous thing he learned from it. He loves the characters of the cattle industry and is especially skilled in making those characters real to his readers. There is Gentleman the wonder horse…one wonders if he will trot or gallop or even wake up. Lee’s wife, Diane, affectionately called Di, appears in many of the columns. In one column he jokes about the names they call each other and describes ranch life, their cattle and horses. “Lee has a wonderful, supportive and resourceful wife. And he is fully aware of his good fortune in having found Diane,” stated Stocks. “I know that because he has told me so many times over the years.” Classic columns from Lee involve a real ranch experience plus an exaggerated character plus a ridiculous situation. When it is all added together, Lee has just made a larger point about modern American agriculture in a thoroughly entertaining style.

Poignant reflections Although often humorous, Lee also pens bittersweet revelations concerning life on the ranch. Renowned radio commentator Paul Harvey read one of Lee’s columns, “People who Live at the End of Dirt Roads,” on the air and received so much fan mail from listeners across the nation that he replayed the episode often. Lee’s homily entitled “These Things I Wish for You,” was also popularized by Paul Harvey. It is a grandfather’s wish for his grandchildren. A few excerpts: “May you learn to appreciate the magic of a firefly and the majesty of a mountain.” “I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in.” “I sure hope you take the time to sit on a porch with your grandpa or to go fishing with your uncle.” To date, Lee has published 15 books, most of them drawn from the “Riding Herd” columns. His widely syndicated “It’s the Pitts” column is popular in livestock and rural publications. He writes about the livestock industry, yes, but the subjects are less the cattle and more about the culture and the men and women who make a living caring for land and livestock. Lee’s affection for the ranching culture has made him a de facto documenter of a changing world. His stories about working days, old ranchers, horses, wives, livestock markets, neighbors, and the peculiar characters of the cattle business will become increasingly valuable as historical records—not because he set out to write history, but because he captured what ranch life actually sounded and felt like while he was living it. Because people and their continued on page 15

R-CALF’s Dave Hyde Breaks Down White House Ranching Orders BY JESSE ALLEN / AGRICULTURE OF AMERICA RADIO

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hat really happened at the White House a few weeks back when ranchers were there for President Donald Trump to sign executive orders supporting American ranchers? One rancher who was in the room with the President shared more details about what exactly happened during that Friday meeting in the Oval Office. R-CALF USA President Dave Hyde was in the room for the meeting with the President. Hyde, an eastern Ohio cattle producer, told Agriculture of America host Jesse Allen that the September 4 signing followed a full day of briefings with USDA leadership, including lunch with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

Behind closed doors Hyde said the day started around 9 a.m. with a trip to USDA’s office, where the group went through the executive orders line by line before anyone had seen the final language. By the time he reached the White House, Hyde said, the moment had already started to sink in.

Wolves steal the spotlight? Hyde said ranchers had roughly 15 to 20 minutes with the President before reporters were let into the room, and the conversation shifted once the cameras arrived. “It sort of got a little sideways when the press came in, and they started talking about the wolves,” Hyde said. “He sort of got fixated on that wolf problem.” Even so, Hyde said he and other cattle group leaders had already built a relationship with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s office dating back to a December meeting at the White House, where Greer asked the group how to fix the industry’s trade problems. Hyde said he compared the situation to what happened to steel. “I’m a retired construction worker and worked at every steel mill up and down this Ohio Valley, and how the imports came in back in the ’80s with no tariffs or TRQs, and these steel mills died a slow death,” Hyde said. “I compared it to the cattle industry, and I think this is a carbon copy, and we need more TRQs. And actually, we need to be thinking about putting TRQs on beef coming in from Mexico right now, not the cattle, but the beef. And I think Ambassador Greer is listening to us.”

Beef import backlash Much of the conversation centered on the Trump administration’s decision to temporarily lift tariffs on 300,000 metric tons of imported lean beef trimmings, widely be-

lieved to be sourced largely from Brazil. Hyde called the move “a blessing and a curse.” “It’s woke up a lot of consumers,” he said. “Every day I get phone calls from my neighbors. How do I differentiate American beef from this foreign beef? I don’t want this foreign beef.” Hyde said the backlash could help build momentum for mandatory country-of-origin labeling, known as MCOOL, if the farm bill reaches a House-Senate conference committee. A prior MCOOL law was ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization in 2015. “There is no compliance cost” for American producers raising American beef, Hyde said, pushing back on industry groups that argue otherwise. He said opposition to MCOOL traces back to the beef checkoff and its contractors. “These consumers deserve the ability to choose American beef from a foreign product,” Hyde said. “MCOOL would help the cattle producers and it would help the consumers choose. And I can’t understand why these people don’t support the American cattle producer.”

Plant closures squeeze producers Hyde also detailed the fallout from the closures of JBS’s Souderton, Pennsylvania, beef harvesting operation and Tyson’s Joslin, Illinois, plant this summer, both of which have left cattle producers in his region scrambling for buyers. “My local sale barn owner told me fat cattle is just dropped off,” Hyde said. “There is nothing.” He said a nearby county fair was warned there may be no bidders for market animals because there is nowhere to send the cattle. Hyde said one of the executive orders includes a guaranteed loan program aimed at helping ranchers finance small regional processing plants, something he said he’s fielded calls about from Ohio to North Dakota since the signing. “I was getting phone calls from Ohio all the way to North Dakota,” Hyde said. “A couple of people there, they was actually chewing on my ear saying, ‘Hey, there’s a beef plant for sale down here. It closed down. We’re trying to buy it, but we can’t get a loan.’” He said one prospective buyer is looking at a plant capable of processing about 250 head a day. “When I mean small, this guy here is talking like 250 head per day, which is a real shot in the arm for people like us in Ohio,” Hyde said. “I go from advocate for the cattle industry to trying to help these guys line up something for financing now.”

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2026 Fall Marketing Edition

Page 11

Livestock Market Digest

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Page 12

New Comments Sought on WOTUS Rule

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2026 Fall Marketing Edition

Livestock Market Digest

he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of the Army (Army) have announced a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to gather public input on additional regulatory language for defining “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) to be considered alongside the 2025 proposed rule. The supplemental proposal will help the agencies consider a wider range of options as they develop a final rule updating the definition of WOTUS, which establishes the scope of waters covered by Clean Water Act regulatory programs. Comments are due on October 6. This action advances the agencies’ commitment to radical transparency and developing a durable, final definition of WOTUS that adheres to the Supreme Court’s direction in Sackett v. EPA, cuts bureaucratic red tape, and protects water quality while recognizing that states and Tribes know their water resources best.

Details about the supplemental proposal: The purpose of this supplemental proposal is to provide an opportunity for public input on a limited number of new regulatory alternatives that will be considered alongside the regulatory alternatives from the 2025 proposed rule. The regulatory text presented reflects only the options in this supplemental proposed rule and does not change or modify the options considered in the 2025 proposed rule. The additional regulatory options for consideration include a proposed definition of “perennial” and alternatives for defining “relatively permanent” and “continuous surface connection.” Specifically, the agencies seek comment on the following:

■■ Defining

“perennial” in the regulatory text to mean “having standing or continuously flowing water every day of the year during ordinary conditions” or, alternatively, to mean “surface water flowing continuously yearround,” consistent with the 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule.

■■ Defining “relatively permanent” to focus on those waters that are pe-

rennial bodies of water, except during anomalous events such as drought or dry spell or due to a non-anomalous event resulting in temporary interruption for no more than 30 consecutive days in any given year such as low tide or a regularly occurring dry spell.

■■ Defining “continuous sur-

face connection” to mean perennial surface water in a wetland that is continuously connected with the surface water in the jurisdictional water such that it is difficult to determine where the jurisdictional water ends and the wetland begins, with an exception for temporary interruptions in the surface water connection as the result of anomalous events such as drought or dry spell or a temporary interruption in the surface water connection lasting no more than 30 consecutive days in any given year as a result of non-anomalous events such as low tide or a regularly occurring dry spell.

■■ As an alternative, revising

clude only wetlands that are indistinguishably part of a traditional navigable water, the territorial seas, a jurisdictional impoundment, or a jurisdictional tributary (i.e., when surface water in a wetland is continuously connected with the surface water in the jurisdictional water such that it is difficult to determine where the jurisdictional water ends and the wetland begins). This alternative would also result in deleting the definition of “adjacent.” Next steps: EPA and Army will accept public comments on the supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking until October 6. Details about commenting can be found on EPA’s Waters of the United States website. The agencies plan to take final action on the rulemaking after considering comments on the supplemental notice along with the comments received on the 2025 proposed rule. Fact Sheet epa.gov/system/files/documents/2026-09/ wotus_snprm_factsheet_508c.pdf Text of proposed rule: epa.gov/system/files/documents/2026-09/ wotus_snprm_9-2026_0.pdf

the current category of jurisdictional waters for adjacent wetlands to in-

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‘That Gets Passed Through’: Tyson Won’t Eat Higher Energy Costs BY FRANK FUHRIG / MEATINGPLACE.COM

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he impact of higher fuel costs on freight has been mounting since early 2026, and with warnings of even higher diesel prices on the horizon, Tyson Foods has warned that it does not intend to absorb those costs. “That’s a service which we provide to our customers, and that’s not something we subsidize — that gets passed through,” Chief Financial Office (CFO) Curt Calaway said during the Tyson Foods public interview at the Barclay’s global consumer staples conference in Boston. He noted that there are nuances in the timing of how such costs are passed along to Tyson’s partners. “It doesn’t just happen immediately, but over time that balances through,” Calaway said. “But we also run an incredibly large fleet internally that allows us to flex that size and flex the routes and where it is, to be able to help mitigate what we’re seeing in some transportation rates.” In that context, he said the company will be “setting our pricing appropriately” to maintain margins.

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2026 Fall Marketing Edition

Herd Health Playbook: Vaccines & VCPR SOURCE: TEXAS A & M

W

hether you have thousands of acres and hundreds of cattle or a more modest plot of land with a variety of farm animals, every herd needs a routine specific to them, including vaccinations, nutrition, and preventative care that account for animals of different ages and stages of production. Dr. Elizabeth Rumfola, a clinical assistant professor at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, shares how a veterinary-client-patient relationship (VCPR) can help producers maintain a healthy herd and prepare for emergencies before they happen.

Herd health starts here An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, which is why herd health starts with vaccination. Among the variety of vaccines available for livestock are clostridial, respiratory and brucellosis vaccines:

Page 13

Livestock Market Digest tered at 3-4 months for cattle and 6-8 weeks for small ruminants. We recommend a booster following four weeks later and annually for all species,” Rumfola said.

A well-rounded routine Because age, pregnancy status and stage of production can all influence a livestock vaccination schedule, a veterinarian’s plan may include vaccines, boosters, deworming and routine monitoring to help producers identify potential health problems early. Young animals can also receive antibodies from their mothers, providing temporary protection against some diseases while weaning. But as that maternal immunity decreases, vaccinations and booster schedules become even more important. “For things like clostridial and respiratory disease, vaccines can be adminis-

Pregnancy is another important consideration when identifying vaccine types and routine. “Modified live vaccines while pregnant can cause health issues for the fetus later on,” Rumfola said. Rumfola says this is typically for respiratory disease so that the body does not reject the vaccine. In addition to a well-planned routine to reduce disease risk, producers’ next critical step should be ensuring these vaccines are administered cor-

rectly, which requires careful technique and professional guidance. Partner in herd health A herd health plan goes beyond routine vaccinations. Establishing a relationship with a veterinarian gives producers a resource they can turn to for guidance if their animals’ needs change. “It’s easier for somebody who doesn’t look at the same cows every day,” Rumfola said. When your veterinarian has an established relationship with a herd, they can help producers manage animal health, provide guidance remotely, and ensure treatments and medications comply with applicable regula-

tion. “If you have an emergency and you call us, we can give you advice over the phone in the presence of a valid VCPR,” Rumfola said. Ultimately, Rumfola recommends establishing a relationship with a veterinarian before an emergency occurs. A VCPR allows producers to have an established veterinary resource who understands their operation and can provide timely guidance when health concerns, treatments or emergencies arise. Pasture Talk is a service of the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University. Stories can be viewed on the web at vetmed.tamu.edu/news/pasture-talk.

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■■ Respiratory vaccines are

particularly common in the cattle industry. There also are respiratory vaccination products that are labeled for sheep and goats that can be used.

■■ Brucellosis vaccines are

subject to strict government regulations and must be administered by a veterinarian. Requirements for administering the vaccine include an animal’s sex, age and identification.

“Producers and other laypeople can administer many routine livestock vaccines, including vaccines for clostridial and respiratory disease,” Rumfola said. “This can be useful when they are already handling an animal for treatment and can administer a vaccine at the same time. “However, some vaccines require veterinary involvement because of human health risks or government regulations,” she said. “Brucellosis and the rabies vaccines are two examples of this.” Because any vaccine or medication can carry some risk — ranging from a mild reaction, such as a lump at the injection site, to occasionally experiencing a serious allergic reaction. Veterinary involvement can be valuable if a reaction occurs, both for treatment and assistance with vaccines and because determining which vaccines an animal needs depends on more than its species, Rumfola recommends speaking to a veterinarian to establish how these vaccines should be administered.

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Page 14

2026 Fall Marketing Edition

Livestock Market Digest

NCBA Takes Swipe at the White House

where we’ve gone down this rabbit hole of influencers and all of these people competing for clicks. Obviously, the administration has decided that is the linchpin of their strategy for maintaining control of Congress and shoring up the president’s approval ratings,” he said in an interview on September 10 with nationally syndicated radio program Agriculture of America. “And we’re in a situation here, where we’re being used as a prop.”

BY CAREN COWAN

C

attle producers are being used as political props even as White House statements and policies have repeatedly damaged their bottom lines, according to Ethan Lane, senior vice president of government affairs at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), Frank Fuhrig reported in the September 14 issue of meatingplace.com. “We’re in this hyper-media-charged environment

While Lane claims to be speaking for the entire US cattle industry, reality and the numbers tell a different story. According to US Census data, there are some 732,000 cattle operations in the US. This data

is from 2022, the latest information available. According to the NCBA’s website as of this writing, the group claims only 25,000 individual members. That’s about three percent of the cattle-producing population. The website goes on to report that “NCBA represents several industry organization members, adding up to more than 175,000 cattle producers and feeders,” bringing the representation up to a dismal 23 percent. NCBA may be the largest national group representing some in the cattle industry, including feeders and packers, but they are far from the only group, and they certainly don’t speak for the industry as a whole. RCALF USA has been working on the

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national scene for decades. Then came the US Cattlemen’s Association. The Common Ground Coalition sprang up last year. There are numerous other state and regional organizations that speak with their own voices on industry issues. If it is the leader of the cattle industry, NCBA was conspicuous in its absence on September 4, when President Trump signed two Executive Orders in the Oval Office aimed at helping cattlemen and women.

The focus of those orders is:

■■ Reviewing federal regulations and policies affecting cattle producers.

■■ Enforcing the Packers and

Stockyards Act to pro-

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for smaller and regional meat processors.Addressing predator management (such as gray wolf protections) and country-of-origin beef labeling All issues of great concern for the cattle industry, but most of them are hard to find anywhere on the NCBA website or the organization’s media. It is true that these Executive Orders came just two weeks after the President announced the importation of more beef from Argentina, an action that drew wrath from most cattlemen and women. It is true that the market has been volatile in recent months. It is true that recent trade deals and tariffs put additional stress on agricultural producers. US Department of Agriculture has recognized food security as a national security issue and keeps that message in front of the President. The agency has been highly active in working on issues facing agriculture and developing programs aimed at helping keep ranchers and farmers viable in the US. It is laughable that an NCBA spokesman calls hard-working cattle producers props for anyone or anything. Make sure your voice is heard through the organization of your choice, local, state, regional, or national.

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ew Mexico state officials are providing an update on the New World screwworm situation following confirmation of the state’s second case, detected September 17 in a horse in Grant County. The New Mexico Livestock Board and the New Mexico Department of Agriculture are coordinating with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other state and federal partners to assess the situation and determine appropriate response measures. State animal health officials are conducting follow-up activities related to the detection and will provide additional information as it becomes available. Animal owners are encouraged to remain vigilant and closely monitor livestock and pets for non-healing wounds, unusual irritation, or other signs of New World screwworm. Suspected cases should be reported immediately to the New Mexico Livestock Board. There is no effect on the food supply. New World screwworm does not affect meat, and the commercial food system remains safe.

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2026 Fall Marketing Edition

LEE PITTS

cont from page 10

stories matter, under Lee’s jokes his work is a record of the 20th and early 21st century American ranch culture. Hence, his work can be funny one moment and surprisingly sentimental the next.

Shoulders of giants There is a saying that those who accomplish great things in life do so because they stand on the shoulders of giants, and Lee Pitts is one of those giants. He can take the frustration of a rancher and turn it into a column. He can listen to a conversation at a feed store or a cattleman’s meeting and turn it into a story that thousands of other people can understand. He reminds readers that behind the statistics are real people. That is important, because the independent cattleman doesn’t always have the largest voice in the room. But Lee Pitts does. And Lee uses that voice for the cowman. Lee probably doesn’t know how he has impacted the lives of his readers. He helped them laugh at themselves and with him. He challenged them to think and to make a difference. His mentorship changed lives, including mine. Another is Caren Cowan, owner and publisher of both the Livestock Market Digest and the New Mexico Stockman, who stated, “When I started in the publishing business, Lee was my idol. Being able to work with him for the last 17 years made a tremendous impact on my career and my life.”

The measure of a writer Forty-three years is a long time. It is especially long to write about an industry as unpredictable as the cattle industry. Markets change. Genetics change. Government policies change. Production practices change. Nutritional knowledge changes. Generations change. But some things remain. Cattle still have to be fed. Bank loans must be repaid. Fences have to be fixed. Rain is prayed for. Grass must grow. And out on the range is a cowman still making it work. This is a world Lee Pitts understands. He knows its hardship. He knows the humor. He knows the stubbornness. And the generosity. And he knows the people. His legacy is that he gave cattlemen a voice. He told our stories. He defended our way of life. He celebrated our victories. He made people laugh. And cry. And plan for the future. And he reminded readers that the Western cattle business has never been just about cattle. It has always been about people willing to work and sacrifice, take risks and stay with the land. Lee understood that, and for more than four decades, he made sure the rest of us could understand it as well. Lee once wrote about heros, summarizing his thoughts with, “It’s a shame that we don’t appreciate people until we read about them in their obituary. This is true of artists, saddle makers, writers, farmers, ranchers, everyone. I fear that someday something will happen that will wake people up. Perhaps an event like 9-11 which reminded us about those heroes in hard hats, the firemen. It’s a shame that it has to come to a food shortage or a famine to remind

Livestock Market Digest people that farmers and ranchers are heroes too.” Lee Pitts is a hero of every agriculturalist. This California cattleman and agricultural journalist who writes with the humor of Will Rogers, the storytelling personality of Walt Garrison, and the firsthand knowledge of a working rancher, has given the best of himself for agriculture. Thank you, Lee Pitts!

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VOTE ON NOV. 3 — IT COUNTS

Page 15

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2026 Fall Marketing Edition

Livestock Market Digest

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