Page 3 - MWC 3-30-2023s

The Midwest Cattleman · March 30, 2023 · P3

March 30, 2023 Volume 29 No. 4

BEEF EXPORTS SET ALL-TIME RECORD WOTUS RULE FROZEN IN TWO
U.S. beef exports set record for volume and value in STATES, BUT UNIMPAIRED IN 48
2022, with expectation to continue into 2023 — even By Greg Henderson
with tighter cattle supplies. A federal judge in
By Jennifer Carrico and Betty Hayne Texas put WOTUS
Global beef on hold in two states
exports have hit but denied a concen-
an all-time re- trated effort by indus-
cord for volume try groups to stop the
and value, add- rule nationwide. The
ing more value controversial Waters
to U.S. beef cat- of the United States
tle and provid- (WOTUS) rule took ef-
ing markets for fect March 20, 2023.
products not cur- Judge Jeffrey Brown sociation (NCBA) expressed
rently used in U.S. beef demand in Japan continues to be high. ruled in favor of Texas strong disappointment in the
this country. Photo -U.S. MEAT EXPORT FEDERATION and Idaho while denying a decision by the U.S. District
Those international mar- second lawsuit that argued Court in the Southern Dis-
kets for beef variety meats U.S. Meat Export Federa- the EPA and the Army Corps trict of Texas to deny a na-
boosted exports by 15% in tion, says, “Beef exports add of engineers should wait for tionwide preliminary injunc-
2022 compared to 2021, ac- nearly $450 per head of fed the upcoming Sackett v. EPA tion that would have halted
counting for $1.24 billion of slaughter value. Global ex- decision from the U.S. Su- WOTUS.
the total $11.68 billion in port value is up 10% from the preme Court before imple- “This latest WOTUS rule
U.S. beef exports. John Hin- previous record and nearly menting the new rules. will place more burdens on
ners, senior vice president In a statement, the Na-
of industry relations for the continued on page 12 tional Cattlemen’s Beef As- continued on page 12

RETAILER SEEKS PERMIT TO BUILD RURAL ECONOMY SLOWS,
BEEF PLANT IN KANSAS FARMLAND VALUES STAY STRONG
By Greg Henderson By Sara Schafer
Mystery surrounds a pro- sult in the construction of a The rural economy seems the third straight month the
posal to build a new 320,000 state-of-the art, high-volume, to be set on cruise in neu- overall reading stayed above
square-foot beef production case ready beef production tral gear. That’s according to the growth neutral thresh-
facility in eastern Kansas. facility that would employ the Rural Mainstreet Index old.
The Olathe (Kan.) City nearly 700 workers with an (RMI) from Creighton Uni- The index ranges between
Council received a request expected payroll of $23.5 mil- versity. 0 and 100, with a reading
for $257 million in indus- lion, according to the report For February 2023, the of 50.0 representing growth
trial revenue bonds and submitted to the city council. RMI sits at 50.1, down from neutral and is generated by
tax phase-in from Dela- According to a report in 53.8 in January. This was a monthly survey of bank
ware-based 1918 LLC, the Meatingplace, the request CEOs in rural areas of a 10-
subsidiary of an unidentified was submitted by Grant state region that are depen-
retailer with stores in half a Thornton LLP, a large ac- dent on agriculture and/or
dozen states. If approved, the counting firm that was not at energy.
proposed project would re- liberty to divulge the name “The Rural Mainstreet
of their client. economy continues to experi-
Meatingplace also
reported Olathe continued on page 16
Chief Communica-
tions Officer Cody
Kennedy said, in Coming Sales-30
response to an in- Life is Simple-5
quiry, that, "As it’s Market Report-8
early in the process,
we’re not able to Agribusiness
identify the organi- Directory-28
zation. As Council

continued on page 16