Feedstuffs

On Friday, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders that are intended to help U.S. cattle ranchers and meat producers. One directs federal agencies to review existing policies that affect ranchers, including competition, predation and origin labeling, and the other aims to reduce impediments to interstate sales of local meat products.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of the Army announced a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking Sept. 4 to gather public input on additional regulatory language for defining “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) that will be considered alongside their 2025 proposed rule. WOTUS regulations define whether a water body is subject to federal jurisdiction under Clean Water Act programs. EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers jointly enforce the CWA.

July exports of U.S. beef climbed 6% year-over-year in value while volume was steady, according to data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation. Although restrictions related to a finding of pseudorabies virus were removed in mid-to-late July, pork exports – especially pork variety meats – were still significantly impacted, which contributed to July results trending lower than a year ago.

When a strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) tore through U.S. poultry farms in early 2025, farmers culled tens of millions of birds, and egg prices soared. The losses highlighted the poultry industry’s urgent need for additional tools and methods to limit the virus’ spread. Now, researchers from the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are preparing to test a new potential line of defense.

Growth with body composition data on Holstein heifers are limited. I briefly previously reviewed principles involved and a specific recent study in that area (Kertz, 2025). The most comprehensive study was done at Cornell University (Meyer, 2005), and portions were previously published (Meyer et al., 2006a,b). The growth and body composition data have been published (Van Amburgh et al., 2026) and will be addressed in this article.

The benchmark index of world food commodity prices edged up in August as high temperatures and other weather-related risks raised concerns over supply prospects, according to new data released Sept. 4 by the U.N. Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO). The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a basket of globally traded food commodities, averaged 133.3 points in August 2026, up 1.9 percent from its revised July level and up 2.5 percent from a year ago.

Rep. Shomari Figures (D-Ala.) introduced the Protecting American Beef Producers Act, a bill to support American cattle producers by reversing President Trump’s proclamation that allowed for 300,000 metric tons of beef to be imported into the country and sold below market rate. “Alabama farmers are already struggling to make ends meet thanks to skyrocketing input costs caused by the President’s war with Iran and retaliatory tariffs stemming from his reckless trade policies,” said Figures.

The 2026 USPOULTRY Live Production, Welfare and Biosecurity Seminar will equip poultry professionals with practical tools and insights to address evolving challenges in live production, animal welfare and biosecurity. Scheduled for Sept. 23-24 in Nashville, Tenn., the seminar will focus on strategies to strengthen operational efficiency, protect flock health and prepare poultry operations for emerging industry challenges.

With beef prices high for popular middle meat cuts in Colombia, the U.S. Meat Export Federation has been working to identify what it considered to be an “opportunity cut” for U.S. beef in the market – a cut with strong flavor, good value and competitive costs that could compete with domestic beef. U.S. chuck roll fit the bill. And for U.S. pork in Colombia, Boston butt is the opportunity cut that USMEF has been showcasing.

FS GRAIN is celebrating the completed expansion at its St. Anne, Ill., grain facility and kicking off harvest with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 10, 2026, at 11 a.m. at 151 East Station Street, St. Anne. In November 2024, the company announced plans to upgrade and expand the existing grain elevator in St. Anne by adding a new state-of-the-art shuttle loader, constructed by GROWMARK Construction.