R-CALF USA

05/31/2026

Thank you, Tri-State Livestock News, for your support as a DIAMOND sponsor of the 2026 R-CALF USA National Convention and Trade Show!

A reliable source for agricultural news, market results, rodeo standings, and more.

A special thank you to TSLN for printing and mailing the official 2026 R-CALF USA National Convention program to members across the country!

Learn more at www.tsln.com, and be sure to stop by their booth during the trade show June 16-18 in Rapid City, South Dakota!

05/30/2026

What you’ll find at goes beyond speakers and sessions. You’ll find producers from across the country discussing policies that impact their operations, building relationships, exchanging experiences, and fighting for the future of independent agriculture.

Because this is more than a convention.

It’s for producers who still believe in independent agriculture, competitive markets, strong rural communities, and a future worth passing on. For those whose values remain rooted in God, country, cattle, and family. For those who refuse to sit back and watch their industry disappear.

Bring your family. Bring your neighbors. Bring your fire for the future of independent agriculture.

Join us in Rapid City for the largest gathering of independent cattle producers.

📍 Rapid City, South Dakota
📅 June 16-18, 2026

Register today while spots remain at www.rcalfconvention.com

05/29/2026

The 2026 Farm Bill marks a new opportunity for Congress to take a bold step to upset the status quo by rebalancing the grazing livestock sector’s legal and regulatory framework in a way that levels the playing field between independent livestock producers and the dominant multinational meatpackers, processors and their allied lobbying groups.

Click below to read the full commentary.

For Immediate Release: May 29, 2026 Contact: R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard Phone: 406-252-2516; [email protected] Please find below R-CALF USA’s weekly opinion/commentary that discusses how, for nearly 50 years, […]

05/29/2026

Record high beef prices and a shrinking cattle herd didn’t happen overnight.

Food security starts with policies that support keeping cattle producers in business and create a marketplace that works for the people producing the food. 🥩🇺🇸

R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard weighs in 🔗⬇️

https://www.npr.org/2026/05/29/nx-s1-5719511/beef-cattle-herd-food-prices?shem=rimspwouoe,

The overall number of U.S. beef and dairy cattle has shrunk to its lowest level since 1951. Drought, rising operating costs and increased consolidation are among the causes.

05/28/2026

America’s cattle and sheep industries have spent decades shrinking while consolidation, deregulation, and market concentration have reshaped the livestock sector. Policies dating back to the 1980s changed the legal and regulatory framework governing agriculture and ask a critical question: will the 2026 Farm Bill bring meaningful reform or more of the same?

From market concentration and trade policy to mandatory country of origin labeling, competition, and food security, this discussion breaks down what is at stake for independent cattle and sheep producers and why the decisions made in Congress this year matter for the future of U.S. agriculture.

The 2026 Farm Bill presents an opportunity to rebalance the playing field, but change will not happen without producer engagement.

Watch: Farm Bill: Progress or More of the Same?

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05/28/2026

Happy National Burger Day. 🍔🇺🇸

Behind every burger is a ranching family working to raise safe, high-quality beef and keep America fed. Celebrate with a burger made from beef born, raised and harvested in the USA today!

05/25/2026

More than a long weekend. More than burgers on the grill.

Freedom has never been free.

We remember and honor the Americans who gave their lives defending it. May we never take their sacrifice for granted.

Happy Memorial Day!

05/22/2026

Consumers are paying record-high prices for beef. But where is that money actually going?

USDA data shows the retail sector’s margins have steadily increased over the past decade.

➡ From 2016-2019, retail sector margins averaged about $1,345 per head of cattle.

➡ By 2025, that margin had increased to an average of $1,963 per head.

➡ In early 2026, retail sector margins climbed to more than $2,035 per head, roughly a $690 per head increase compared to the first four years of the decade.

➡ If retailer margins were the same today as they were in March 2016, Choice retail beef prices would be about $1.40 per pound lower.

Over the past decade, the retail sector has progressively increased the gap between wholesale beef prices and the prices consumers pay at the meat counter.

Meanwhile, cattle producers remain widely dispersed, decentralized participants in the beef supply chain and are considered price takers, while downstream packers and retailers are highly concentrated and possess market power.

Before policies are implemented to lower cattle prices, regulators and antitrust enforcers should first determine how much of increased beef prices is attributable to competitive market forces versus concentrated market power.

For a full breakdown on rising retail beef prices, retailer margins, and market concentration in the beef supply chain, watch here: https://youtu.be/BabFs7GW-E4?si=qNGNJYKXzuXxZC_J

05/21/2026

For years, independent cattle producers warned that unchecked beef packer concentration was destroying competition, driving ranchers out of business and threatening America’s food security.

This week’s Weekly Address breaks down:
• How we got here
• Why cattle producers and consumers are both losing
• Why this federal investigation matters
• And why the DOJ is asking the public to come forward

This is not just about cattle prices.

It is about market power, food security and the future of independent agriculture in America.

Watch📺: Unprecedented Focus on Concentration Problem

If you have information related to antitrust or anticompetitive practices in the cattle market, visit https://www.justice.gov/atr/whistleblower-rewards

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05/20/2026

Part 5 of MCOOL Misconceptions: “You can’t have MCOOL without mandatory EID”

The U.S. successfully implemented MCOOL for beef and pork from 2009–2015, and it worked without mandatory electronic ID tags.

Packers already segregate beef for export markets, branded programs, organic claims, and USDA grades. MCOOL requires no new processes, only using the systems already in place and the origin information they already receive and track.

All cattle imported into the U.S. are already permanently marked with their country of origin through brands, tattoos, or eartags. When those cattle go to slaughter, packers can visually confirm origin and label the beef accordingly, for example: “Born and Raised in Canada, Slaughtered in the U.S.”

Cattle born and raised entirely in the United States have no foreign markings and can simply be labeled: “Born, Raised, and Slaughtered in the USA.” This method, known as the “presumption of domestic origin,” was already recognized in the original COOL regulations and eliminates the need for mandatory EID.

American consumers can have transparency at the grocery store without expanding government control over American cattle producers.

MCOOL existed for years without mandatory EID, and it can again.

Call (202) 224-3121 and tell Congress to .

Up next: “How does MCOOL impact imports?”