GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN ENDS |
On Wednesday, November 12, the House of Representatives passed the government funding measure previously approved by the U.S. Senate on Monday, November 10. Shortly after final passage, President Trump signed the measure into law, ending the longest federal government shutdown in history. The Continuing Appropriations and Extension Act, 2026 (H.R. 5371), funds the government through January 30, 2026, at FY25 levels. The Senate amendment to H.R. 5371 attaches three full-year FY26 appropriations bills including Agriculture-FDA. The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced the Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies bill by a unanimous vote of 27 to 0, and the full Senate passed the bill by a vote of 87 to 9 on August 1, 2025. Agriculture-FDA Appropriations Highlights The FY26 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act provides $26.65 billion in total funding, with key investments in nutrition, rural development, and agricultural research: Agriculture Research: $3.8 billion for agricultural research programs, including $1.8 billion for the Agricultural Research Service and $1.7 billion for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to ensure that America maintains our competitive edge in terms of agricultural production and innovation.
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS): $1.2 billion for APHIS, as requested by the Administration, to help protect more than $325 billion worth of livestock, poultry, field crop, and specialty crop production.
Agricultural Marketing Services (AMS): $211 million for AMS to facilitate the marketing of U.S. agricultural products, both domestically and internationally, support domestic commodity purchase programs to support our agricultural producers, and provide and market data to help producers make informed business decisions.
Farm Service Agency (FSA): $1.4 billion for the FSA to provide local support for our nation’s farmers and ranchers.
Conservation: $850 million to the Natural Resources Conservation Service for technical and financial assistance to farmers and ranchers to support America’s working lands.
To see the full extent of the Agriculture-FDA funding click here. Farm Bill Extension This funding measure also included a one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill, which technically expired in October. While many provisions were addressed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, H.R. 5371 ensures continuity for remaining programs, including:
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Potential Impacts of the Mexican Border Reopening
Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist
Cattle markets have been nervously reacting to rumors and speculation that the Mexican border may reopen at any time to cattle imports into the U.S. Many questions are swirling about when the border might open, how many cattle are backlogged in Mexico and how fast cattle might cross into the U.S. Some background and recent events are helpful to sort out what to expect if the border reopens.
For twenty years from 2004 - 2023, U.S. imports of Mexican cattle have averaged 1.17 million head, ranging from 0.703 to 1.47 million head per year. On average, Mexican cattle imports are equal to 3.3 percent of the U.S. calf crop. Mexican cattle imports include steers and spayed heifers, with heifers accounting for an average of 15.6 percent of total cattle imports.
Severe drought in Mexico, especially in 2023 and 2024, significantly impacted exports of cattle to the U.S. In 2023, a total of 1.25 million head of Mexican cattle were imported, including 28.4 percent spayed heifers. In 2024, a total of 1.25 million head of Mexican cattle were imported prior to the border closure in late November. Given the typical seasonal pattern of imports, total Mexican cattle imports in 2024, were on pace to reach a record or near record level of 1.45 – 2.0 million head. Total imports prior to the border closure included 37.1 percent spayed heifers, a record level of heifers in the import total. Total steers in the import mix both years were below average levels. Drought conditions, combined with rising U.S. cattle prices, were major factors in the increase in Mexican cattle exports to the U.S. and especially for the increase in spayed heifer exports. Mexican cattle exports in 2023 and 2024 were most likely not sustainable and indicated cattle liquidation.
What would have happened in 2025 if the border had not been closed? No one knows of course but the events of the previous two years likely mean that less cattle would have been available for export. It appears that 2025 cattle exports to the U.S. would have likely totaled perhaps 0.95 – 1.0 million head, with an open border. A total of 229,055 head did cross in the brief periods that border was open earlier in the year.
The big question is how many potential cattle exports have been reabsorbed into the domestic Mexican market. There are indications that Mexican feedlots have been placing Mexican cattle (substantially devalued relative to the U.S. market) in lieu of Central American cattle that typically backfill the Mexican cattle supply. Improved drought conditions in Mexico do allow more flexibility for Mexican cattle producers to hold cattle. For example, the October 12-month moving average of rainfall in Chihuahua was at the highest level since July 2023. However, with little prospects of the border opening until recently and only rumors now, many Mexican cattle may have already been marketed back into the domestic market. Certainly there are no prospects for spayed heifer imports into the U.S. The limited time frame for spayed heifers to be exported combined with the uncertainty of the border (even if it is opened) makes it risky and unlikely that heifers would be scheduled for export. There may also be more heifer retention now in northern Mexico. On net, it seems likely that perhaps 200 to 400 thousand head of Mexican cattle may currently be available for export.
When the border opens it will take time for cattle exports to begin and they will likely start slowly. Border facilities have to be restaffed, and producers have to prepare cattle and paperwork for export. All of that plus extra inspections and protocols likely means that very few cattle would cross before the end of the year. It will be a trickle rather than a flood, when it happens.
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Pennsylvania Cattlemen’s Association has a Board of Directors that meets monthly. Individual members, as well as affiliate members of PCA, are encouraged to serve on the Board of Directors. Each director is elected to a three-year term and is eligible to serve two consecutive terms at which he or she will then time out. Once a director has timed out, a year must pass before he or she is eligible to serve again.
Pennsylvania Cattlemen’s Association is an Affiliate of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association that takes part in their grassroots system of NCBA’s policy. A grassroots system is when the people in a given district or region are the basis for a political or economic movement. Organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at the national level of NCBA.