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Cattle industry faces headwinds, but many remain optimistic

An industry consultant says there’s still a lot of optimism in the cattle industry, but producers continue to face headwinds.  Nevil Speer says, “Even though markets have been good, it’s the amount of working capital that they have.”

He tells Brownfield input costs remain high. “They may have other enterprises,” he says.  “And what happens is cash flow gets somewhat challenging within the business, and that’s been especially problematic with a rising interest rate environment.”

He says interest rates are expected to stabilize in the coming year, which is good news for producers. “Most every producer that I work with is excited,” he says. They’re optimistic. You see young people coming back.”

But he says that doesn’t mean producers shouldn’t implement risk management to protect their bottom line.

AUDIO: Nevil Speer, cattle industry consultant