In today’s Beef Buzz, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays was at the 580 Cattle Conference in Woodward, Oklahoma, and spoke with Kent Bacus, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Executive Director for Government Affairs. Bacus highlighted the fast-paced nature of recent trade developments, noting, “It is definitely a fluid situation. This is positive, though. This is very good to be able to see all of this movement and with such speed when we hadn’t seen anything in the last four years.” He emphasized that these trade advancements aren’t being announced as sweeping, single deals but rather as “progress reports on negotiations for each of these different steps.” Importantly, he added, “Agriculture is involved in every single one of these negotiations. Cattle and beef are definitely on the table.”
Bacus pointed to Australia’s market opening to U.S. beef as a symbolic shift, even if it wasn’t technically a formal agreement. “Australia has had this massive trade deficit… where they’ve been able to ship $29 billion worth of beef to the US, and we’ve been locked out of their market for 20 years.” He celebrated the fact that Australia is “now fully recognizing the health and safety of our production practices and our food safety,” calling it a sign of progress and proof that “this administration is putting agriculture first.”
He viewed the Australia announcement as a broader message to other nations. “It’s definitely a warning shot,” he said, citing the President’s message that countries rejecting U.S. beef are “on notice.” Bacus added, “The President has our back on this,” contrasting the current administration’s support with past policies that used beef “as trade bait,” and stating, “Now we have an administration that’s listening to us. It’s actually fighting on our behalf.”
Turning to the EU, Bacus stressed the uphill battle U.S. beef faces due to deeply entrenched non-tariff barriers. “Where do you start?” he asked, citing issues like “the historic hormone case” and other unjustified restrictions. He noted a breakthrough, though: “That there is an agreement to address a lot of these non-tariff barriers, that’s very important,” signaling a change in tone from European leaders.
Finally, Bacus criticized the EU’s regulatory approach to livestock standards. “The Europeans are so far behind in matching us… the only way their government feels that they can actually address those concerns is to create laws.” In contrast, he praised the U.S. beef industry’s self-regulation through programs like Beef Quality Assurance, saying, “It’s science, it’s proven applied science. It’s really setting the stage and improving the overall quality of our production.”
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
