National Cattlemen's Beef Association

In response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture detecting one case of New World Screwworm in a calf in South Texas, NCBA CEO Colin Woodall released the following statement:

“NCBA and our state partner organizations have been working for more than a year to combat the incursion of the New World Screwworm, and we are doing everything possible to protect the interests of American cattle producers. We appreciate USDA and other agencies for working rapidly to bolster critical resources that protect producers, including building a domestic sterile fly facility, increasing fly surveillance, and expediting the availability of necessary drugs and treatments for cattle. We defeated this harmful pest before in the 1960s by investing heavily in sterile fly dispersal and NCBA will continue using every tool in the toolbox to ensure Screwworm is eradicated in the U.S. once again.”

For more resources visit:

Stop Screwworm | Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Learn how the U.S. Government prevents New World screwworm and what to know about risks, surveillance, sterile-fly control, travel, and more.

This week's weather features severe storms and flooding.

Areas to watch:
📍 Northern Plains – severe thunderstorms
📍 North Dakota – heavy rain and flooding
📍 West Texas & New Mexico – flash flood concerns
📍 Great Lakes & Northeast – weekend storm chances
📍 Eastern U.S. – growing heat and humidity
📍 Southwestern U.S. – watch the moisture from a tropical wave developing near Mexico
📍 Hawai'i – Watch for the tropical wave developing southwest of Baja

Matt Makens covers all the highlights in a weekly update he sends out. The Weekly Weather Watch is available to NCBA members for free. Sign up here: makensweather.com

Tell us what weather you are seeing where you live.

Today we pause to recognize and remember those who lost their lives in service to our country. 🇺🇸

We know many, if not most, of our producers are battling drought conditions. There was some recent moisture that improved the pastures and grass health during the past couple of weeks. Although roughly similar to the popular drought monitor product, the two images here represent the health of vegetation currently (on the left, oranges/reds indicate poor plant health relative to what it would normally be this week) and how the health has changed in the past couple of weeks (on the right, browns indicate where plant health has gotten more stressed versus the teals representing areas of some improved health).

NOAA/NESDIS products like these, visualized for us by Matt Makens, are useful for seeing short-term gains from recent precipitation in areas that remain covered by a drought monitor classification. Case in point: in the past week or so, many pockets of grass improved across the West, in localized areas of Colorado and Wyoming, southeastern Oklahoma, southern and central Texas, and southern Florida. Those same areas remain in at least D2 drought, so they are certainly not out of the woods from a long-term drought perspective, but at least they got a short-term boost.

The big picture remains, however, many of our producers are in regions with very poor grass/forage health due to drought. Although El Niño is likely to bring relief to many later this year, the change won't be immediate and takes time to transition, as discussed in the recent National Cattlemen newspapers.

Rural communities today face challenges that are complex and require collaboration of committed individuals and groups to solve.

For NCBA member Ty Koonce, those realities helped shape the creation of Under the Hat, a nonprofit focused on advancing mental health awareness and expanding access to care in rural communities. Sparked from his own experience and one CattleCon keynote speaker, he is committed to reducing stigma across the industry.

This effort reflects a growing recognition that resilience in agriculture includes both operational and personal well-being.

NCBA members can read Ty's story in the digital edition of May's National Cattlemen. Go to your NCBA online portal to learn more.
https://bit.ly/4nEVV3H

Stockmanship & Stewardship events focus on practical, science‑based cattle handling and land management skills that can be used every day on your operation. The sessions are led by respected cattle experts and emphasize low‑stress handling, cattle behavior, animal and employee safety, and grazing decisions that improve the land.

This year, we are still headed to New Mexico (this weekend), Nebraska and Georgia! Find dates, details and registration information here: https://www.stockmanshipandstewardship.org/

NEOGEN

It's time to register for the 2026 Cattle Industry Summer Business Meeting.
📆 July 12-14
📍 Aurora, Colorado

At this annual meeting, network with fellow cattlemen and women, participate in committee meetings focused on current industry developments, and join interactive sessions with NCBA staff and cattle industry leaders.

Register and book housing now!
🔗: https://bit.ly/49ZTUJI