MEAT+POULTRY - January 2025 - 54

BEEF PRODUCTION
" Investing in
range lands
and pastures
and grazing
lands has a
really high
potential for
return on
investment
because it's
kind of the
cheapest way
to maintain
cattle. "
- CHARLOTTE TALBOTT
With demanding headwinds, Talbott
explained that it's important to reset and look
over the past 10-year cycle and see what could
be tailored for the next 10 years.
" Historically, if you look at past rebuild
cycles, we start going through expansion,
and you generally see this kind of bump in
productivity, " Talbott said.
" I think it's interesting because producers
are looking at ways that they can maximize
their efficiencies and be more productive as
a whole. "
Talbott looked at many elements when
assembling this analysis, including historical
production and supply cattle cycle trends. After
that, the firm will use a few future demand
drivers that will be relevant in the next 10
years, including external factors like weather,
regulatory environment and market conditions.
Talbott believes wrapping up all those
different factors and building an outlook
can help identify risks and opportunities
for producers that can act to make their
operations more resilient and ultimately
more profitable.
" The cost of retaining a replacement heifer
in the herd versus selling her for that profit is a
big consideration, " Talbott said.
Another part of Talbott's insights was that
the management decisions for cattle herds
continue to come into play, particularly with
weather conditions and drought recovery in
2024. Still, there's been a decline while looking
at USDA pasture condition reports nationally.
54 MEAT+POULTRY | 01.25 | www.meatpoultry.com
Providing the proper timeline for cow-calf
producers to figure out these choices on the
growth of the herd remains central to the herd
size going forward.
" I think the other management decisions
are kind of around this timing period, " Talbott
said. " You look at the drought, the forage base
that's existing, what are some of those different
levers you can pull now versus when you have
more animals perhaps on the operation. "
MANAGING GRAZING LAND
Drought continues to be a major factor in
various parts of the United States where
cattle graze, and this plays a role in overall
production of herd build back.
Talbott noted that as the producers
consider adding more animals at the ranch
level, there should be assurance that the forage
resources are the best they can be throughout
this next cycle.
" Investing in range lands and pastures and
grazing lands has a really high potential for
return on investment because it's kind of the
cheapest way to maintain cattle, " she said.
" If you think about grazing cattle on land that
you already have versus having to supplement
feed in the winter or supplement feed during
drought periods where you may not have as
many forage resources you'd like to. "
In the report, Rabobank noted the US
Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB)
estimated that half of the 655 million grazing
acres in the United States are managed under
Riko Best - stock.adobe.com
http://www.meatpoultry.com
MEAT+POULTRY - January 2025

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