2025 brought many wins and definitely some challenges for the U.S. cattle industry. Jenna Stanton, director of policy and public affairs for the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, shared a recap of the year from Capitol Hill.
“So, I think when we take a look at 2025, we’d be remiss to not mentioning the government shutdown. And I can tell you; Capitol Hill was busy. There was government was shut down, but work was being done, and we had some really great conversations with our legislative folks. You know, staff was there, the Senate was in so we were having those…conversations, cattle still need to be fed, business still needed to be done, and on Capitol Hill. So that was that was really impactful for us to see. But I think as we kind of close out 2025 what we saw is we saw an industry that when the government was shut down, or when things were maybe a little bit quieter coming from the secretary’s office, you saw an industry that that never let off.”
Trade discussions have been a focal point throughout the year and will likely continue to be major headlines in 2026. Recently, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office reviewed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement. Stanton talked about the key takeaways from the process.
“Our testimony was largely focused on updating those rules of origin that fall within USMCA to make sure that we are protecting American ranchers in the really superior product that they provide Mexico, Canada have both been good trading partners by and large. When we take a look at the cattle side of things and on the beef side of things, we maybe see things a little bit differently, but it’s how we can make these trade agreements work.”
The USCA will kick off the new year with its annual convention on January 21–22 in Manhattan, Kansas. Stanton gave a preview of the convention.
“[I’m] certainly excited for our annual meeting. We have a lot of really great panels lined up, talking about screw worm, talking about animal health, talking about this great market wave that we’ve gotten to ride, and bringing everybody together in Manhattan, talking about what the markets did this past year. We’ll have D.r Glenn concert talking about a beef industry outlook for 2026 and he’ll get to really focus on, you know, okay, from an economic standpoint, where did we come from in 2025 and it looks like these markets might last a little while longer. And you know, what can we do to be prepared? And how can we make sure that our producers have all the information they need to be able to play in those markets and make those moves?”