On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that due to budget constraints- they have made the decision to cancel the July Cattle Report and discontinue the County Estimates for Crops and Livestock, among other changes.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Ethan Lane quickly denounced the move saying “It is disingenuous for the same agency which touts its commitment to transparency in livestock markets to arbitrarily cease publication of reports which provide just that. While it may be politically expedient to blame appropriators in Congress for today’s decision, cattle producers know better than to believe discontinuing a handful of reports will result in substantive cost savings for the Department,”
The Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association are also upset- They offer this statement: “OCA is in full agreement with NCBA calling for USDA to reinstate these important reports. The cattle industry needs robust information in order to understand accurate feeder cattle numbers and movement. Of critical importance right now is heifer retention as we grapple with how and when herd rebuilding will take place.”
Oklahoma Farm Report also reached out to Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel, who says that OCA’s statement is a worry. Dr. Peel texted us that this decision means “no indication of heifer retention until January. Likewise, no estimate of feeder supplies. Seems kind of important in the current situation.”
NCBA’s Lane adds “NCBA calls on USDA-NASS to immediately reverse this decision and continue delivering on its stated mission of providing timely, accurate, and useful statistics in service to U.S. agriculture.”
Click here for the USDA statement- released earlier today.
