01:42And those low numbers aren't just about market trends.
01:45Weather has been a major player, too.
01:47Especially with drought-ridden years, you feel those effects so many years afterwards
01:52because if people don't have enough water to feed their animals, then they have to sell those animals.
01:57Elliott Dennis, an associate professor of livestock economics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
02:03says the market is being driven by both short supply and strong consumer appetite.
02:08He says Americans love beef, and they're willing to pay premium prices to keep it on the table.
02:14At the same time, global trade deals are adding pressure.
02:17A new plan to expand Argentina's beef import quota would allow four times more product into the U.S. market.
02:24Dennis says that could temporarily lower cattle prices here, but the impact is likely short-lived.
02:30Argentina's share of U.S. imports would still be just over 1%.
02:34Those different factors can affect the commodity market pricing, which then in turn affects our business, too,
02:41because we are buying cattle around those commodity market pricing.
02:45So just looking at buying cattle for 2026 here soon, those cattle are so much more expensive than they have been in years past.
02:55And while imports get headlines, exports are where Nebraska shines.
03:00Dennis says high-quality beef shipped to countries like Japan, South Korea, and Canada brings in more value than the lower-cost trimmings that come into the U.S.
03:09We went through the pandemic during those eight years, and we saw a lot of changes in demand in how consumers shopped during those times.
03:17So I think the pandemic just brought on a lot of the farm-to-table movement and people wanting to know where their food comes from and have trust in those sources.
03:27At Oak Barn Beef in West Point, that global demand is local. From farm to table, their family business ships nationwide, showing how Nebraska farms fuel both the economy and America's appetite.
03:38Nebraska beef makes up about 85% of all livestock sales in the state and more than half of total agriculture revenue.
03:46And even as producers work to rebuild herds, analysts expect prices to stay high, driven by consumer demand showing no sign of slowing down.
03:54With our input costs being so high, it does make our margins so slim that there's not a lot left at the end of the day.
04:01For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kayleigh Carey. Read more ag stories right now on the Straight Arrow News mobile app or visit san.com.
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