Last week’s bomb cyclone continues to inundate parts of the Midwest with flood waters this week.
Following the storm that hit Nebraska the hardest, the flood waters made their way downstream over the weekend to include Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri.
Multiple levees have been topped or breached, which has swamped farmland and small towns along the Missouri River. Agriculture groups like the Nebraska Farm Bureau are working to assist in the recovery efforts.
Steve Nelson, the president of the Nebraska Farm Bureau, said they are seeing the waters recede in certain areas.
“That is a good thing, but we’ve got huge issues with infrastructure, roads and bridges and those kinds of things. We will continue here, and I know that efforts are being made to expedite those repairs. But everybody has to be very cautious here after the floodwaters are past, we’ll have a lot of things that we’ll be dealing with.”
Nelson said the Nebraska Farm Bureau has created a disaster relief fund to raise money and supplies for farmers, ranchers, and rural citizens.
“People can go to our website and contribute to that fund,” said Nelson. “The monies that come into that fund will be used exclusively for farmers and ranchers and those in and about our rural communities and a hundred percent of that money will be used to help people in need. There will be no administrative costs or anything like that. We just really appreciate everyone’s concern and their willingness to help.”
The Nebraska Farm Bureau relief fund and supply exchange can be found on their website.
In trade news, China and the United States have reached a tentative agreement on enforcement of a potential trade agreement between the two nations.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Friday the mechanism blocks Beijing from retaliating if the U.S. implements tariffs on Chinese products because China violated the terms of an eventual agreement.
Seemingly, that means U.S. agricultural products would be protected from retaliation. The two sides appear to be inching closer to reach some sort of agreement. The agreement though, won’t come this month, as previously thought. The administration said a summit between the U.S. and China may now be postponed until June.
As for cattle slaughter estimates, the USDA said production is lower than last year in its latest report.
According to the USDA’s weekly estimates, fed cattle slaughter last week was estimated to be 467,000 head, 0.4% lower than a year ago. Since the start of the year, fed cattle slaughter has been a total of 4.696 million head, 0.7% lower than the same 10-week period the previous year.
In other news, traceability of the beef supply chain is seeing new changes.
Tyson Fresh Meats, the beef and pork subsidiary of Tyson Foods Inc., is introducing DNA technology to trace beef back to the individual animal of origin for its Open Prairie Natural Angus Beef, the company said in a news release.
A DNA sample from cattle entering the Open Prairie program will be used to trace the origin of individual cuts of beef as they move through the supply chain. The patented tracking process is intended to assure customers the Open Prairie beef products they buy were sourced from ranches where the cattle were raised to meet specific requirements, such as no antibiotics ever and no added hormones.
-Reported by Lane Nordlund/MTN News
