Cattle Market Guys - Tuesday Check In 9-1-2026

Feeder cattle prices are sliding fast, and a controversial tariff waiver on Brazilian beef imports is only adding to the chaos. Brock and Jim break down why the cash market and policy headlines are pulling cattle futures in opposite directions this week. In this Tuesday Market Update, Brock and Jim dig into the weekly cattle price snapshot, with 500-549 weight steers down over $24 from a month ago and forecasts pointing to further softness through September. They unpack Proclamation 11059, the 90-day tariff waiver on imported ground beef that's benefiting Brazil and squeezing Argentina's export momentum, plus a separate processing order aimed at breaking up packer concentration. Jim draws a sharp parallel to the 1989 Meat Import Act trigger, offering a veteran's perspective on how government intervention in beef markets has played out before. The conversation also covers the phased reopening of Mexican cattle imports at the Douglas, Arizona port of entry, a new screwworm case detected in Sonora, and the FDA's emergency authorization of a generic ivermectin treatment. Jim shares firsthand memories of the 1976 screwworm outbreak and the joint US-Mexico eradication program that beat it decades ago. Finally, Brock and Jim examine the shrinking producer share of the retail beef dollar, down from 63 cents in 1980 to just 37 cents in 2021, and what that means for herd rebuilding decisions amid ongoing drought and rising input costs. It's a packed episode covering trade policy, animal disease risk, and the economics squeezing cattle producers even as headline prices stay strong.