The headline shouted ”New climate standards have dairy farmers in Europe bristling” and the sub head teased, “Agricultural workers say emissions goals put too much of the burden on them, threatening a way of life.” (New York Times, 8-27-2023.) Sound familiar? I hear similar plaintive cries from US cattle producers when they shout about their life’s work and income being threatened as they are “unfairly” blamed for climate-warming cattle belching.

The New York Times story referenced above was about small- to medium-sized dairy farmers concerned about their longevity in the face of more restrictive government emission edicts. Many of these Euro dairy farmers are threatening to coalesce to fight for their livelihoods in the face of more restrictive government-imposed decrees. Could such an organizational effort occur in the US, where cattle producers are fighting for their livelihoods in a similar way?

It has been my contention that US cattle producers really don’t know the full scope of their collective power. They have the cattle, processors need the cattle, and consumers need the beef. Isn’t this a type of countervailing power defined as the balancing of the power of one or more groups? That definition, it seems, is a perfect description of what the situation among US cattle producers, processors and consumers could be.

Cattle producers, processors or consumers should not be enemies, at least not in this fight of objections to more restrictive raising edicts. The “enemy” is climate change zealots who insist that cattle raising with methane belching cattle, hauling them for processing and food distribution are major causes of a warm-worsened climate. It seems that in the EU, farmers, or at least dairy farmers, are beginning to organize to resist restrictive regulations to a degree that is not evident in the US. Should US cattle producers similarly organize? Only if they want to have an effective voice in any current or future methane emission regulations.

Overarching this countervailing power situation in the US is that a few humongous companies dominate both the US and the world’s animal protein industries. We have seen more and more of our US protein companies bought by foreign companies with two of the top four beef companies and the largest US hog company now owned by South American conglomerates and a Chinese company, respectively. Only the US chicken industry has the majority of its largest competitors headquartered in America.

But, so what? Are these foreign-owned and run beef and hog companies in any way a threat to US-owned and managed protein businesses? Yes and no. Yes, because with their industry-dominating size comes efficiency which begats enhanced and competitive-stifling profitability. Or no, I say facetiously, because the Biden administration’s USDA has been directed to prop up the US smaller beef companies with tranches of taxpayer dollars to “improve their competitiveness.” Good luck with that one!

In ways, these big beef behemoths can put their thumb on the scale tilting it their way in the power struggle between cattle producers and processor and between the large-thumbed processors and consumers. This is an even stronger argument for cattle producers organizing to be able to present a more effective force for price parity and to counter government interference and emission standards.

How will this producer organizing effort be brought to fruition?

Why not use the current producer organizations, either NCBA or R-Calf? My answer is that one of these is a turgid committee-run association and the other is beyond zealotry as they try to foment change.

Their needs to be something in between these two extremes. Either one or the other needs to adjust its approach or there needs to be a wholesale change with a completely new organization.

The preference, of course, is to work within the bowels of one or the other for change to be more focused on first accepting and understanding climate change and their zealots and, second, offering them an olive branch to prove that the cattle producers are more of their friend than enemy — and that they are organized as a very powerful, effective vocal voice to government and industry.

Cattle Producers, Processors, Consumers and Climate Change

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