Industry members packed their bags and boots and headed to Nashville, TN, for the 2021 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) annual convention. The days-long event took place from Aug. 10-12 and covered a wide range of industry issues, informative sessions, and educational opportunities.
The unofficial theme of the convention seemed to be sustainability. A diverse array of presenters and industry experts encouraged producers to seek out programs and ventures offering incentives for sustainability measures. The annual Cattlemen’s College educational sessions even featured three separate discussions about what sustainability really is and how producers can capitalize on gains in carbon markets. NCBA also released its newly formed sustainability initiatives for the future.
Beef demand was touted as the highest in 30 years at the CattleFax U.S. and Global Protein and Grain Outlook seminar. Numerous other speakers and sessions echoed the sentiment, emphasizing how consumers have never wanted beef more. However, price disparities between boxed beef and cattle prices were acknowledged, though there was optimism the markets will begin to improve soon.
Beef demand
Cattlemen’s College is a popular event consisting of educational sessions and demonstrations geared to the producer. The first day of Cattlemen’s College gave producers the opportunity to engage in workshops dedicated to animal health and husbandry, and livestock risk strategies.
Dr. Jayson Lusk, economist and department head at Purdue University, kicked off the start of day two of Cattlemen’s College with a discussion over whether beef will continue to have a place on consumers’ dinner plates. Lusk discussed some of the top threats facing animal proteins, which included meat alternatives, animal disease outbreaks, labor issues, anti-competitiveness and inflation.
Lusk emphasized although it can be easy to dismiss alt meats as competitors, there is a lot of investment money flowing into agrifood technology—about $21 billion. This investment money is often coming from outside agriculture and seeks to disrupt the industry. While there have always been meat substitutes around, there is now more science involved to create greater similarities to beef products—including the Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods burgers.
When it comes to consumer preference, most consumers are still more willing to buy beef rather than alternative products. A consumer survey found that when given the option to buy beef or alternative products at the same price, 67 percent chose beef, 12 percent chose alternatives and 20 percent didn’t want either option. About one-quarter of those who chose the non-beef option were vegetarian or vegan and didn’t plan to buy beef either way.
Lusk noted that although alternatives are currently a small share of the marketplace, it’s important to engage on the discussion about their place. Investors heavily push the products, as they fit into their sustainability initiatives and objectives that are increasingly being picked up by companies. It’s not often the final consumer that matters—people who are making the buying decisions for large companies have larger control over the marketplace.
Lusk also shared that he believes animal disease is going to be a bigger issue to focus on; coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers are going to be more attuned to disease spread. If another outbreak like the BSE epidemic takes place, consumers are likely to be more sensitive about it.
The labor force is an issue that is impacting most industries, but more automation will be required in order to meet labor demands. Anticompetitive behavior is an issue that is unlikely to go away and will continue to be a pressing topic. Finally, rising inflation levels and a greater use of ecommerce for food is likely going to change how consumer dollars are spent, Lusk said.
Sustainability
Sustainability was a hot topic at the convention. In fact, there was an entire general session dedicated to the issue, discussing the discrepancy of the definition between consumers and producers. As Marty Smith, past NCBA president, put it, “What [sustainability] means to me doesn’t mean a damn thing to the consumer.”
NCBA also released its beef sustainability goals for the future, which included the following:
• Care for our planet;
• Care for our animals and land;
• Care for our people; and
• Build our resiliency.
The issue was also discussed in length at Cattlemen’s College, where NCBA sustainability leaders and industry experts discussed sustainability measures and how producers can capitalize on incentives.
Jessica Soule, NCBA associate director of sustainability research, shared how sustainability often means different things to different people, but at the end of the day for the beef industry, sustainability means producing an environmentally sound, socially responsible and economically viable product.
Dr. Jessica Gilreath, postdoctoral research associate at Texas A&M University, quantified the sustainability of beef production. Her research is working to evaluate how producers, feeders and stockers can implement practices to improve beef’s environmental footprint and their net return. Some of the strategies include practices already being implemented in the industry, such as improved feed efficiency, terminal crosses and reduced cow body size. Not only does live weight marketed increase when implementing several strategies together, but so does resource use efficiency.
Kent Swisher, North American Renderers Association president, and Daniel Schaefer, Cargill Protein, shared the value of rendering and how it can actually decrease annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Although not a glamourous side of agriculture, the rendering industry’s annual GHG reduction is equivalent to removing more than 18.5 million cars from the road.
The rendering industry is one of the original “recyclers,” and there are opportunities to capitalize on the industry’s story to share how agriculture can be part of the solution to sustainability, they said. Increased interest in renewable fuel also lends the opportunity for more sustainable measures.
Finally, of particular interest to producers, was Lora Wright from Where Food Comes From detailing carbon market opportunities. Wright finished research just prior to convention that looked over different voluntary markets and what benefits there could be for producers. Although different programs are structured differently, grazing systems’ roles in carbon markets are not quite as certain as crops. Wright recommended reaching out to different programs and “reading the fine print” before engaging in a market, as most contracts require at least 10-15 years of participation.
NCBA convention will be back on its regularly scheduled track next year and will be hosted in Houston from Feb. 1-3, 2022. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
