Low cattle supply could push steak prices up at supermarket
The American cattle supply is at its lowest level since 1951. As a result, cattle prices are soaring, and the increases could reach consumers.
Despite the recent supply concerns, The Wall Street Journal reported that cattle markets in Chicago hit a record in January and were almost 20% higher than two years ago.
Cuts affected include rib, loin, round and flank.
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The American cattle supply is at its lowest level since 1951, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. As a result, cattle prices are rising, which could soon mean higher prices for consumers at the grocery store.
Despite the recent supply worries, The Wall Street Journal reported cattle markets in Chicago hit a record in January and were almost 20% higher than two years ago.
The low supply impacts several cuts of meat, including chuck, rib, loin, round and flank.
What companies are affected by this shortage?
Due to the low supply, food brands like Tyson Foods, JBS and Cargill are striving to maximize the amount of meat obtained from each head of cattle. Large companies can earn about $80 million more annually if they increase the meat harvested per cow by 1%.
Workers at meat processing plants are now processing as much meat as possible. Workers send bones that still have meat on them to a trim table in a different part of the plant, where they clean the bone and use the remaining meat they harvest for ground beef.
Henry Davis, the CEO of Greater Omaha Packing, told the WSJ the excess trim is worth anywhere from $1.25 to $3 per pound. He says deboning is very labor-intensive and time-consuming. The plant calls this process of cleaning all the meat from the bones the white bone program.
Workers can send the little meat that remains on the bones for rendering and grind it up into pet food.
What happened back in 1951?
In 1951, drought and high feed prices reduced the cow herd and made fewer cattle available. The USDA’s recent cattle count at the start of 2025 in the United States was about 28 million.
The bottom line is that due to today’s cattle supply shortage, meat processors and beef giants are doing everything possible to maximize profits by pulling as much meat off the bone as possible to sell it.
Some experts have beef with the latest TikTok beauty trend: tallow
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and TikTok influencers are touting beef tallow as the latest craze in health and beauty. Tallow is the fat that’s rendered when meat is boiled.
Influencers are using it as part of their skincare regimen while Kennedy is pushing it as a healthier alternative to using vegetable and seed oils when frying foods.
Health experts say, just like anything else, tallow does have some benefits — but may not live up to the hype.
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The latest TikTok trend in skin care is here. Influencers are touting the benefits of rendered beef fat, also known as tallow.
If that sounds familiar, it might be because Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently touted it as a healthier alternative to using vegetable oil when frying foods.
Good for your skin and your diet?
That sounds almost too good to be true — so, is it? The short answer is both yes and no.
Tallow is the fat that remains after meat is boiled, in this case, beef.
There isn’t much scientific data to back the trend. The National Institutes of Health did a review of about 150 published papers on beef tallow being used as a cosmetic product, and they did not find any definitive benefits for skin.
Why are people using it?
While tallow does have some moisturizing properties, it isn’t ideal for all skin types, especially for oily or acne-prone individuals.
That’s because, much like Vaseline — another popular skincare product — it creates a barrier on the skin to keep moisture from getting out or in.
Additionally, animal fats are rich in saturated fatty acids, which can make breakouts worse for certain skin types.
When it comes to using tallow for cooking, Kennedy believes it could “Make America Healthy Again” so strongly that he’s selling merchandise promoting the use of tallow. However, experts say seed oils are the better choice since they contain unsaturated fats.
Hochul shuts down New York live poultry markets amid bird flu scare
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has temporarily shut down live bird markets to curb the spread of bird flu. The move follows the discovery of several H5N1 cases across the state.
The state order requires markets to sell off inventory and remain closed for five days before reopening.
Meanwhile, officials are reassuring the community that the public health risk of bird flu remains low.
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New York Gov. Kathy Hochulannounced a state order Friday, Feb. 7, temporarily closing live bird markets to curb the spread of bird flu. The move comes after several cases of the H5N1 strain were discovered in multiple locations across the state.
The H5N1 strain primarily affected birds, poultry and cows. It raised concerns after inspectors found seven cases across the state, including in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. Hochul emphasized that the temporary shutdown of markets is a precautionary measure to protect both public health and local animal populations.
State order in place until Feb. 14
In her announcement, Hochul revealed a one-week hold on delivering new poultry to stores, aimed at slowing the transmission of the virus. This decision affects live bird markets in New York City, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties, which will be temporarily shut down through Feb. 14.
“Each uninfected market must sell down all inventory, undergo thorough cleaning and disinfection, and then remain closed for at least five days,” Hochul said, adding that markets can only reopen once an inspector gives them the green light.
Although the risk to humans is low, Hochul said her top priority is keeping New Yorkers safe from any outbreaks. She emphasized, “I want to reiterate that people should not be concerned.”
CDC monitoring bird flu outbreaks
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has echoed Hochul’s comments. They assured the public that the risk to human health remains low despite ongoing bird flu outbreaks.
Since 2024, the CDC has confirmed 66 cases of H5N1 in humans, including one fatality in Louisiana this year. The CDC has reported 67 human cases of the virus since 2022 and is closely monitoring each situation while working with states impacted by the outbreaks.
New York State Department of Health ready for major outbreak
The New York State Department of Health said it’s prepared to conduct large-scale testing if a significant human outbreak occurs.
Commissioner Dr. James McDonald emphasized that, while there have been no reported human cases in the state, residents should avoid contact with sick or dead birds to prevent potential exposure.
“For folks that do keep chickens, ducks or geese, you should familiarize yourselves with clinical signs of avian influenza,” he said.
For the first time, testers have discovered a second bird flu variation in American dairy cows. The Department of Agriculture announced the new strain on Wednesday, Feb. 5.
Until recently, all dairy herd detections in the U.S. had been infected with a form of bird flu known as B3.13.
Researchers previously detected this new version, D1.1, only in wild birds and poultry, but has now spread to cows.
They were able to link this strain to a deadly human case in Louisiana last year. The victim contracted the virus after exposure to infected birds.
Humans infected with D1.1 have experienced more severe symptoms than those with the previous bird flu strain. However, the CDC said the risk to the general public remains low, and there is no evidence of the spread of D1.1 from human to human.
Trump bans transgender athletes from women’s sports
President Donald Trump signs an executive order prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing in female sports, claiming the war on women’s sports is over. And the State Department claims Panama is willing to waive fees on American ships using the Panama Canal, despite the Panamanian government saying otherwise. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025.
Trump bans transgender athletes from women’s, girls’ sports
President Donald Trump followed through on another campaign promise Wednesday, Feb. 5. He signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports.
“With this executive order, the war on women’s sports is over,” Trump said.
He added, “This will effectively end the attack on female athletes at public K-12 schools and virtually all U.S. colleges and universities. I don’t think we missed anything, but if we do, we’ll make it up very quickly with an order.”
The order rolls back Biden administration guidance on Title IX, a civil rights law that prevents sex-based discrimination in education programs and activities that receive federal funding
“We're putting every school receiving taxpayer dollars on notice that if you let men take over women's sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for violations of Title IX and risk your federal funding.” –President Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/MUd6FAetWr
The current measure, dubbed “No Men in Women’s Sports,” is the fourth executive order Trump has signed involving transgender people since taking office just over two weeks ago. Critics said the order addresses a problem that simply is not there.
“First of all, the numbers, they don’t exist,” said activist and former professional cyclist Kristen Worley. “Understand that there’s 0.01% gender variant people living in our society as a whole, so it’s a very tiny, tiny group of people that he’s actually targeting, and certainly the numbers in terms of gender performance are filled with inaccuracies as well.”
However, supporters of the order pointed to a trans swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania and a trans volleyball player at San Jose State as examples of men who transitioned to women and then dominated women’s sports.
The executive order also stipulates that the Trump administration will work with sports governing bodies, including the International Olympic Committee, to ensure that guidance is followed in noneducational settings.
Democratic senators protest Vought’s nomination with overnight speech marathon
Democratic senators held the floor overnight Wednesday into Thursday to protest Russell Vought’s nomination to lead the Office of Management and Budget.
Republicans have the majority in the Senate, so they have consistently confirmed Trump’s nominees, even without Democratic approval. Vought was set to be confirmed for the job Wednesday night, but Democrats vowed to slow the process dramatically.
Democrats have warned about Vought’s ties to Project 2025, a conservative push to reshape the federal government. Trump has denied following its guidelines.
We're holding the Senate floor all night to fight back against Trump’s nomination of Russell Vought.
America saw how bad OMB’s illegal, incompetent funding freeze was.
We want Americans to hear EVERY HOUR how bad the dangers are that he poses to their daily lives as OMB head. pic.twitter.com/ksJ2VG7nJX
Things came to a head after the OMB released a memo last week freezing federal funding. While the memo was rescinded not long after, Democrats said it was a warning sign for how Vought, who at least one Democratic senator has called Trump’s “most dangerous nominee,” would run the office, which plays a key role in enacting the president’s agenda.
Senate Democrats began what they said would be a 30-hour protest Wednesday afternoon. Despite the protest, the full Senate will vote to confirm Vought as budget director Thursday evening.
Vought previously held this position during Trump’s first term. Republican Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota said he has a good working relationship with Vought and expects it to continue.
Panama denies US claim government vessels can transit canal for free
Hours after the State Department announced that American ships would be allowed to sail through the Panama Canal for free, Panama said that was not true.
In a post on Wednesday, the State Department said Secretary Marco Rubio had agreed with Panamanian leadership to allow the move, saving the federal government millions of dollars a year. Rubio had visited Panama this week.
The Panama Canal Authority said it sets the tolls and other fees for crossing the canal and “has not made any adjustments to them.” The authority added that it is open to dialogue with the U.S.
Before taking office, Trump demanded that Panamanian authorities either lower fees for American ships using the Panama Canal or return its control to the U.S.
‘Sanctuary city’ mayors to testify before House committee
“Sanctuary city” mayors will testify before House lawmakers in an upcoming hearing on immigration policies, according to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky.
Comer launched a probe into sanctuary policies, which allow a jurisdiction to limit its cooperation with federal immigration enforcement officials when it comes to the Trump crackdown on illegal immigration. Mayors in major cities such as Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia have said they will not help.
This comes as newly confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi hit the ground running on her first day in office Wednesday, ordering a pause in federal funding from the Justice Department for sanctuary cities. Straight Arrow News reporter Lauren Taylor has the details here.
The mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York City, among others, will appear before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on March 5 to discuss sanctuary policies.
New bird flu variation found in US dairy cattle
Testers have discovered a second bird flu variation in American dairy cows for the first time.
The Department of Agriculture announced the new strain on Wednesday, Feb. 5. Until recently, all dairy herd detections in the U.S. had been infected with a form of bird flu known as B3.13.
This new version, D1.1, was previously detected only in wild birds and poultry, but has now spread to cows.
It’s also the strain that’s been linked to a deadly human case in Louisiana last year after the victim was exposed to infected birds.
Humans infected with D1.1 have experienced more severe symptoms than those with the previous bird flu strain. However, the CDC said the risk to the general public remains low, and there is no evidence of the spread of D1.1 from human to human.
AI ‘digitally unrolls’ 2,000-year-old scrolls burned in Vesuvius eruption
Using artificial intelligence, X-rays and CT scans, researchers have deciphered some words on an ancient scroll burned by lava from Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.
The rolled-up papyrus scrolls were found in a mansion in Herculaneum, an ancient town near Pompeii, in the mid-1700s. Researchers attempted to unfurl them for more than two centuries to see what was inside and what they said.
The few scrolls they could open contained philosophical writing in ancient Greek. Others were so severely damaged by the lava that they were illegible — until now.
On Wednesday, specialists at Oxford University in London announced a significant breakthrough. Technicians used a massive machine called a synchrotron to create a powerful X-ray beam that could look inside a fragile scroll without damaging it. The Oxford scholars are now continuing to decipher the text on this scroll.
Louisiana man dies after contracting bird flu, marking first US death
A Louisiana man died Monday, Jan. 6, after contracting the H5N1 bird flu, making him the first person in the United States to die from the virus. The 65-year-old’s passing comes after the CDC confirmed he was the only known severe case of H5N1 in the country.
The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) confirmed that the man tested positive for the virus after coming into contact with a non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds.
The patient, who had underlying medical conditions, contracted a severe respiratory illness as a result of the infection.
“LDH’s extensive public health investigation has identified no additional H5N1 cases nor evidence of person-to-person transmission. This patient remains the only human case of H5N1 in Louisiana.”
Louisiana Department of Health
Health authorities also noted that the man tested positive for a mutated strain of the H5N1 virus. According to the CDC, once the virus infects a human, it can evolve during the illness.
Since the start of the 2024 outbreak, 66 human cases of bird flu have been reported in the U.S.
The most common strain of H5N1 have been traced to dairy farm outbreaks, with 917 herds infected by the end of 2024.
Meanwhile, the CDC reports that all 50 states have seen poultry outbreaks. The outbreaks pushed the number of infected birds above 130 million.
Bird flu symptoms can vary, but experts say the most common signs include sore throat, fever, cough and body aches. Most infected individuals experienced mild cases and recovered with antiviral treatment.
Apart from the Louisiana case, the CDC notes one other person in Missouri was hospitalized with bird flu. Other health conditions were the primary factors in their case.
While the CDC says the risk to the general public remains low, the agency cautions those who work with birds, cows and poultry face an increased risk of exposure to the virus.
USDA announces new federal order for raw milk testing amid bird flu concerns
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a new federal order Friday, Dec. 6. The new order requires the collection and sharing of raw, unpasteurized milk samples nationwide for testing of H5N1, also known as bird flu.
The order mandates entities responsible for dairy farms, bulk milk transporters, bulk milk transfer stations or dairy processing facilities that send or hold milk intended for pasteurization to provide raw milk samples upon request.
Additionally, herd owners with cattle testing positive for H5N1 must supply epidemiological information to assist with contact tracing and disease surveillance.
The USDA stated that the goal is to monitor H5N1, which has been affecting hundreds of dairy herds nationwide.
“Among many outcomes, this will give farmers and farmworkers better confidence in the safety of their animals and ability to protect themselves, and it will put us on a path to quickly controlling and stopping the virus’ spread nationwide,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a news release.
Vilsack told Reuters the testing plan will involve monthly or weekly sample collection from bulk milk tanks and dairy processors, beginning Dec. 16 in California, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Oregon.
The USDA first announced in April the required testing for lactating cows moving across state lines. In October, the agency expanded the national milk testing program to include bulk milk sampling at the regional level, with additional farm-level testing if necessary, until herds in a given area are determined to be free of the virus.
As of Thursday, Dec. 5, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported more than 700 dairy herds in 15 states have been infected with H5N1.
Nearly 60 people in the U.S. have contracted the virus. However, officials noted the majority of these cases involved farmworkers who had direct contact with livestock.
Health officials emphasize there’s currently no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus.
However, as Straight Arrow News reported Friday, Dec. 6, a newly published study suggests that bird flu may have the potential to spread more easily to humans than previously thought.
H5N1 mutation may make it easier for virus to latch to human cells: Study
Scientists are warning the bird flu virus may be able to more easily spread to human cells than previously thought. Researchers with Scripps Research Institute found it may take just a single mutation for this version of H5N1 to become capable of latching onto human cells.
In a study published on Thursday, Dec. 5, scientists noted that the virus could attach to people’s cells through proteins in a way much simpler than previously known.
A professor of infectious disease at Vanderbilt University called the findings “sobering” but points out the mutation has not yet been observed by other researchers despite repeated efforts. The authors of the study believe despite the lack of peer evidence that the mutation is likely already occurring in the current strain of bird flu.
The research comes as nearly 60 Americans have reportedly tested positive for H5N1. Although there is yet to be a confirmed case of human-to-human transmission.
As Straight Arrow News previously reported, the virus has spread to more than 700 dairy herds across the United States with California at the epicenter with around 500 infected herds.
Health officials are urging farm workers to wear protective equipment because most human bird flu cases have been people working directly with livestock. The Golden State also issued a statewide voluntary recall of raw milk on Tuesday, Dec. 3, after discovering bird flu contamination in retail samples of Raw Farm raw milk.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns against drinking raw milk because of bird flu and other illnesses associated with its consumption.
Calif issues statewide recall of raw milk after H5N1 found in retail samples
The latest hotspot for the bird flu in the United States, California, announced on Tuesday, Dec. 3, that it is expanding a recall of raw milk products to cover the entire state. The voluntary recall comes after recent tests reportedly detected H5N1 in two more samples from the nation’s largest raw milk dairy, Raw Farm, based out of Fresno, California.
The California Health Department says the products include all milk and cream from Raw Farm. The company’s owner estimates the company produces 70,000 gallons of milk weekly from more than 1,700 cows.
California health officials say they put the company’s operation under quarantine. They’ve also halted any distribution of all of its products, including cheeses and butter, made on or after Nov. 27.
Last month, the state issued two voluntary batch-specific recalls for raw milk produced by Raw Farm. The recall came after bird flu was discovered at the company’s bottling and retail sites.
The California Health Department urges anyone working with raw milk or potentially infected cows to wear protective gear.
The Golden State is the epicenter of the avian flu. California has reportedly 31 of the nation’s 57 confirmed cases of bird flu. The state is also home to 500 of the United States’ more than 700 infected dairy herds.
So far, no human cases have been linked to raw milk consumption in California. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that people avoid drinking raw milk due to the risk of bird flu and other illnesses associated with its consumption.
Health officials also warn pet owners not to feed their animals Raw Farm products, citing cases of cats on farms with infected cows developing brain damage and some dying after drinking contaminated raw milk.
The FDA maintains that pasteurized milk is still safe to drink as it says the pasteurization process kills the virus.
Is seaweed the answer to more climate-friendly cattle farming? A new study revealed feeding cows the ocean delicacy could cut the animals’ methane emissions by almost 40%.
Researchers at University of California Davis found that giving grazing beef cattle seaweed pellets contributed to the plunge in emissions without impacting the health and weight of the cows.
They divided 24 beef steers into groups, one that got the supplement and one that didn’t, conducting the experiment over 10 weeks in Montana.
Scientists discovered a 37.7% drop in methane emissions from the supplement group.
Researchers said grazing cows produce more methane than feedlot or dairy cows because they consume more fiber from grass.
Previous studies show seaweed cut methane emissions more than 50% in dairy cows and 82% in feedlot cattle.
However, this is the first study in the world to test seaweed on grazing beef cattle.
Researchers said the study results show the importance of making seaweed more accessible to grazing cattle to make the industry more sustainable while still meeting the global demand for meat.