by Beef News | Sep 20, 2025 | Farm Policy, Business, Policy
Under federal law, every U.S. cattle producer is required to pay $1 per head into the Beef Checkoff, a national program originally designed to promote beef for the benefit of all ranchers. But today, nearly two-thirds of that $38 million annual fund flows straight...
by Beef News | Aug 24, 2025 | Dairy, Business, Policy
Since 1965, Ohioans have lived under a raw milk prohibition written not as a health advisory but as a legislative trap. The Ohio Revised Code §917.04 froze retail licenses on October 31, 1965 — meaning no new dairyman could ever enter the market. When the last pre-’65...
by Beef News | Aug 5, 2025 | Policy, Business, JBS
“O LUCRO SUMIU.” “The profit is gone.” That’s not a slogan—it’s a warning. Brazil’s cattle are “worth” $52 on paper—less than half the U.S. price. But local ranchers don’t get that. The export premium? Reserved for China-approved carcasses, controlled by...
by Beef News | Jul 31, 2025 | Business, JBS, Policy
Pardons for Sale in Brasília In December 2023, Brazil’s Supreme Court suspended a $2 billion corruption fine against JBS’s parent company, J&F Investimentos. Not through trial. Not through public hearing. Through a secret, single-justice decision by Dias...
by Beef News | Jul 31, 2025 | Policy, Business, JBS
Trump’s 76% tariff on Brazilian beef was billed as a blow to foreign meat. But for JBS—the world’s biggest meatpacker, based in Brazil—it’s just vertical integration with a red, white, and blue ribbon. Let’s be blunt: The name changed. The supply chain didn’t. The...
by Beef News | Jul 30, 2025 | Policy, Business, Farm Policy
A South Dakota rancher sells three steers at auction. Before he sees a dime, $3 is skimmed off the top. It doesn’t pay his feed bill. It doesn’t fix his fencing. It goes to fund ads, research, and meetings he’ll never attend—promoting beef he can’t trace, run by a...
