Houston: While 2019 Was Challenging I Look Forward To 2020

The past, present and future, just a few of the topics discussed at the 2020 Cattle Industry Convention and National Cattlemen Beef Association trade show earlier this month in San Antonio, TX.  At the event, NCBA President Jennifer Houston said markets dominated concerns for cattlemen and women last year.  But she’s optimistic in the year head.

“We had the market disruption after the Tyson fire, and that’s always on people’s top of mind if we are not at the top of the market. But, we’re going to work through that. Things are already more back to normal. The numbers are just going to have to work through. But, they’re very optimistic. They’re optimistic about these trade deals, there’s just a lot of reasons that I think as we look that’s it’s going to to be a good time to be in the cattle industry. I’m also hearing that the guys are gearing up for it. Cattlemen are feeling better. We really had a tough year last year, not only with the market and the fire and things like that, but that’s also on top of fires, floods, snowstorms. But, I think these trade deals have given them a reason to be optimistic.”

Regardless of challenges in the past, or still to come, beef producers have a common goal.  To provide consumers with a quality product.

“There’s more that unites us than divides us," Houston said.  "We have different resources, we use them in different ways, but we end up with the same high-quality product and we’re just the same folks. That’s been the fun part of my job is being able to tell them what NCBA is doing for them, and to get to know them and their operations and what’s important to them. And, it’s really very similar, not only across the U.S., but frankly, across the world.”

More than 9,000 cattle producers, industry partners, and stakeholders filed into San Antonio for the trade show earlier this month.

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