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Nebraska cattle leader says producers need to ‘take back our industry’

Nebraska cattle industry leader Mike Drinnin says cattle producers need to “take back” their industry.

“Because this is our business. It’s not anybody else’s,” Drinnin says. “It’s not the packing industry’s. It’s not the retailer’s. It’s not anybody else’s. It’s our business and we need to take it back.”

Drinnin, a cattle feeder and immediate past president of Nebraska Cattlemen, says one way to do that is to have a higher percentage of fed cattle marketed through negotiated cash sales.

“Our policy says it needs to reach, at least, levels of about 50 per cent of the total fed cattle marketed in order for us to have bargaining power as we go and sell our cattle,” he says.

Drinnin says he doesn’t want to see the cattle industry go the way of pork and poultry.

“It’s at the point that, if it gets driven down much more, then the supply in these packing plants could go away, because the producers can’t take it anymore. I’m not predicting that to happen, but if it continues on, it dang sure can get that way.”