Feed Outlook, December 2019

With no new data from the National Agricultural Statistics Service this month, and steady demand from exports, food, seed, and industrial use, and feed and residual use, there were no balance sheet changes this month to corn, sorghum, or oats. Projected prices are unchanged for corn and sorghum and lowered 5-cents per bushel for barley and oats.

 

The global production of coarse grains is expected to expand month over month by 6.81 million metric tons. This revision is driven by record Chinese corn yields, which increased their total supply by 6.77 million tons and is expected to increase carryout in 2019/20. This change more than offsets reductions in Australian coarse grains production due to continued drought, amongst other small revisions.

 

 

 

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.