Livestock

If you’ve been to the grocery store, you probably know the price of beef is skyrocketing. Live cattle prices are up more than 20% this year. Ground beef in the grocery store rose 11.5% between July 2024 and last month according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index; Steak prices were up 12% in the same time.

A new study led by the University of Michigan shows that large livestock farms are polluting the air across the U.S., including parts of the Mountain West. Researchers say these impacts are felt hardest by nearby communities, where people of color often live.

Livestock face attacks from a new tick and the return of the screwworm, so now the U.S. is preparing to fight back.

Idaho rancher Jay Smith has a wolf problem. Over the last 20 years, Smith said wolves have killed more than 200 of his cattle and caused major financial harm to his family’s business.

The United States Department of Agriculture announced tighter requirements this week for some country-of-origin labels on beef and pork. The change could impact Colorado’s sizable livestock industry.

The Wolf Depredation Control Board will contract with two groups of producers through a new pilot program that will reimburse them for killing wolves preying on their livestock. In October, the board approved five agreements but three were later found out to not be valid.

Wildlife Services investigated fewer instances of wolves killing livestock and found fewer depredations, too.

Animal agriculture produces more methane - a powerful greenhouse gas - than any other human activity in the U.S. Climate experts say we need to cut those down now. But the science on livestock emissions is just emerging, so it's not clear how to do that.

The Idaho Fish and Game Department unanimously approved a plan that would cull Idaho’s wolf population by almost two thirds.

Livestock producers in the Mountain West have been hit hard by this winter’s weather. That’s why Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah have asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture for relief.