California Ag Network

Tag: ranchers

  • USDA Announces Lawfare Partnership with SBA

    U.S. Secretary of Ag Brooke L. Rollins announced a new memorandum of understanding with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to combat weaponized regulatory and enforcement actions against America’s producers, ranchers and small businesses. This partnership advances Pillar 4 of the Farmer and Rancher Freedom Framework by building a government-wide shield against lawfare.

    Secretary Rollins was joined by SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Special Envoy for American Landowners John Rich, Director of the Bureau of Land Management Stevan Pearce, Representative Harriet Hageman, Representative Eli Crane and affected producers and ranchers, along with representatives from leading legal organizations including the America First Policy Institute, Institute for Justice, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Pacific Legal Foundation, American Stewards of Liberty and Mountain States Legal Foundation.

    “Producers and ranchers who feed this nation should never face the full power of government alone,” Rollins said. “This partnership with the SBA creates clear pathways for redress, ensures fairness in enforcement, and demonstrates that Washington stands with, not against, the hardworking Americans who sustain our country. Through the USDA Lawfare Portal and interagency collaboration, we are delivering real protection under the Farmer and Rancher Freedom Framework.”

    “For too many ranching families, lawfare has become just another cost of doing business—except it’s one no hardworking producer should ever have to bear,” Rich said. “I’ve traveled across this country and met families who have spent years fighting bureaucrats instead of tending their cattle, working their land, or passing their operations on to the next generation. This partnership sends a clear message: the federal government is done standing on the sidelines while producers are buried in red tape and abusive enforcement. We’re standing up for the people who feed America.”

    The MOU formalizes collaboration between USDA and SBA’s Office of the National Ombudsman. It enables the resolution of complaints involving other federal regulatory agencies submitted through the USDA Lawfare Portal – in addition to analyzing resulting data to identify patterns for potential deregulation and accountability. — Story contributed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture

  • $1 Billion Approved for Flood and Wildfire-Impacted Livestock Producers

    U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins has announced eligible livestock producers will receive disaster recovery assistance through the Emergency Livestock Relief Program for 2023 and 2024 Flood and Wildfire (ELRP 2023 and 2024 FW) to help offset increased supplemental feed costs due to a qualifying flood or qualifying wildfire in calendar years 2023 and 2024. The program is expected to provide approximately $1 billion in recovery benefits. Sign-up begins on Monday, September 15. Livestock producers have until October 31, 2025, to apply for assistance.

    “We are providing continued support for livestock producers whose livelihoods and way of life have been disrupted by catastrophic floods, wildfires, and poor forage conditions in 2023 and 2024. Under President Trump’s leadership, USDA is standing shoulder to shoulder with America’s farmers and ranchers, delivering the resources they need to stay in business, feed their families, and keep our food supply strong,” said Secretary Brooke Rollins. “This announcement builds on the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP) and the historic levels of assistance we have rolled out over the last few months, once again proving that this administration is working as quickly as possible to get help out the door and into the hands of livestock and dairy producers. USDA will continue to put farmers first and ensure they have the relief they need to weather storms and build for the future.”

    Congressman David Valadao (CA-22) added,“The flooding of Tulare Lake in 2023 was devastating for the Central Valley, and I’ve worked for years to make sure our producers have the tools they need to recover. Dairy farmers faced heavy property damage, feed losses, and transportation costs from moving livestock, and today’s USDA announcement is a major step forward. Expanding the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP) will help address these losses and move us closer to making our farmers and dairymen whole. I’m grateful to USDA for their partnership throughout this process and look forward to working directly with the administration to make sure we get relief into the hands of CA-22 producers as soon as possible.”

    Qualifying Disaster Events

    To streamline program delivery, FSA has determined eligible counties with qualifying floods and qualifying wildfires in 2023 and 2024. For losses in these counties, livestock producers are not required to submit supporting documentation for floods or wildfires. A list of approved counties is available at fsa.usda.gov/elrp.

    For losses in counties not listed as eligible, livestock producers can apply for ELRP 2023 and 2024 FW but must provide supporting documentation to demonstrate that a qualifying flood or qualifying wildfire occurred in the county where the livestock were physically located or would have been physically located if not for the disaster event. FSA county committees will determine if the disaster event meets program requirements.

    Livestock and Producer Eligibility

    For ELRP 2023 and 2024 FW, FSA is using covered livestock criteria similar to the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) which includes weaned beef cattle, dairy cattle, beefalo, buffalo, bison, alpacas, deer, elk, emus, equine, goats, llamas, ostriches, reindeer, and sheep.

    Wildfire assistance is available on non-federally managed land to participants who did not receive assistance through LFP or the ELRP 2023 and 2024 for drought and wildfire program delivered to producers in July of this year.

    Payment Calculation

    Eligible producers can receive up to 60% of one month of calculated feed costs for a qualifying wildfire or three months for a qualifying flood using the same monthly feed cost calculation that is used for LFP.

    ELRP 2023 and 2024 for drought and wildfire and ELRP 2023 and 2024 FW have a combined payment limit of $125,000 for each program year. Producers who already received the maximum payment amount from ELRP 2023 and 2024 for drought and wildfire will not be eligible to receive an additional payment under ELRP 2023 and 2024 FW. Eligible producers may submit form FSA-510, Request for an Exception to the $125,000 Payment Limitation for Certain Programs, to be considered for an increased payment limit of $250,000.

    Supplemental Disaster Assistance Timeline

    USDA is fully committed to expediting remaining disaster assistance provided by the American Relief Act, 2025. On May 7, we launched our 2023/2024 Supplemental Disaster Assistance public landing page where the status of USDA disaster assistance and block grant rollout timeline can be tracked. The page is updated regularly and accessible through fsa.usda.gov. Contact your local FSA county office for more information.

  • Experts Discuss Factors Driving Up Beef Prices

    Americans love beef. Reportedly, a typical American eats three hamburgers a week. Yet Americans shopping for ground beef, New York strips, or sirloin in 2025 are paying for that love through extreme sticker shock as prices continue to skyrocket.

    “We are in the middle of a classic cattle cycle downturn,” said agribusiness expert Mario Ortez Amador. “U.S. beef production is declining because the national herd has shrunk to its lowest levels in decades.”

    Economic expert David Bieri concurs. “Tariffs are playing a secondary but important role in beef pricing that consumers are seeing right now, with the impact becoming more pronounced in recent months,” Bieri said.

    What is driving the reduction in beef production in the U.S.?

    “Incentivized by high cattle prices and high input costs, many ranchers reduced their breeding herds — both by culling older cows and by selling heifers that otherwise could have been kept for breeding. The result is fewer calves coming through the pipeline,” Ortez said. “Because it takes about 18-24 months for a calf to reach slaughter weight, production is relatively unresponsive to price signals in the short run. Even though beef prices are high, it takes time for producers to rebuild the herd and bring more beef into the market. This is a classic feature of food production, crops take time to grow, livestock does too.”

    “Incentives also matter,” Ortez said. “With cattle prices at record highs, ranchers often prefer to capitalize on today’s market rather than wait years for future returns. In economics we say a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow — and that mindset reinforces the short-term liquidation of cattle rather than long-term herd expansion.”

    To what degree are tariffs playing a role in pricing consumers see right now?

    “The primary factor driving record-high beef prices is a severe supply shortage — by some metrics, the U.S. cattle herd is at its smallest level since 1951 — because of multiyear droughts that increased feed costs, so ranchers are selling cattle rather than breed them,” Bieri said. “Tariffs are adding to this supply pressure, above all the 50 percent tariff on Brazilian imports since Aug. 1, affecting Brazil’s roughly one quarter share of all U.S. beef imports.”

    What would it take to see beef prices return to more affordable levels?

    “On the demand side, beef demand has been remarkably resilient,” Ortez said. “Despite higher retail prices, consumers continue to value beef strongly in their diets. When you put constrained supply together with steady demand, you get the record beef prices we’re seeing today.

    “Prices will only ease once the national herd begins to rebuild. That process starts when producers stop liquidating cows and begin retaining more heifers for breeding. But those heifers won’t calve for two years, and the resulting calf will take another 18 months to reach market weight. That means it could be several years before supplies increase enough to meaningfully pressure prices downward,” he said.

    About Ortez
    Mario Ortez Amador is a collegiate assistant professor of agribusiness and entrepreneurship in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. He was recently named the James A. and Renae C. Pearson Collegiate Faculty Fellow by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. Read his full bio here.

    About Bieri
    David Bieri is an associate professor in the School of Public and International Affairs and an associate professor of economics. He also holds an appointment in the Global Forum on Urban and Regional Resilience. View Bieri’s full bio.