Opinion/Editorial in Response to Nevil Speer’s opinion/editorial published in Drover’s on January 16, 2024, titled “Speer: Don’t Blame Trade – Blame Protectionism.”

 

Who’s Funding Speer’s Baseless Attacks Against the Largest U.S. Producer-Only Cattle Association?

by

R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard

January 22, 2024

Nevil Speer is a frequent contributor to Drovers and fervent critic of R-CALF USA. In his January 16 critique, Speer accuses R-CALF USA of lying in its “Free Trade Distorts Domestic Cattle Prices” video. Specifically, Speer alleges R-CALF USA’s claim that November 2023’s slaughter of imported cattle totaled 42,000 head compared to only 28,000 head during the same period in 2022, was false.

First, full disclosure: I researched and made the R-CALF USA video. R-CALF USA is the only national cattle trade organization that does not receive, nor has ever applied for, checkoff funds. Other than a one-time Covid payment, it is 100% supported by membership dues and donations. R-CALF USA’s research is relied upon by its members, the media, members of Congress and the Administration, law schools including Yale University, and by courts in high-impact litigation, including our class action antitrust lawsuit and our defense of the Constitution in our beef checkoff case.

It would be insightful to know where Speer gets his funding, particularly who pays him to bird-dog R-CALF USA and nip at the organization’s heels. Could his funding be from organizations funded by beef checkoff dollars? Speer should, as I just did, provide full disclosure as to the source(s) of his funding as that would provide context to his anti-R-CALF USA rhetoric.

Now back to Speer’s accusation: Here’s what I said in the video that Speer quoted in his deceptive attack: “…during the month of November, about 42,000 imported cattle were slaughtered, which compares to 28,000 slaughtered during the same time last year…”

Speer, however, tricks his readers by claiming I said 42,000 cattle were imported for immediate slaughter in November 2023 and that number was 28,000 more than the previous year. Speer further tricks his readers by providing a non-USDA chart of monthly cattle imported for slaughter that purports to prove I reported false data.

But wait, I did not say I was reporting cattle that importers declared were intended for slaughter when they crossed the border. No, I said I was reporting the number of imported cattle actually “slaughtered,” as reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in its “Weekly Direct Steer and Heifer Slaughter Cattle Summary.” I compiled the five USDA weekly reports for November 2023 to arrive at the total number of imported cattle slaughtered. That number was 42,069. I did the same for November 2022. That total was 28,423.

My research was accurate, and Speer’s accusations are contrived and deceptive. Why didn’t Speer contact me as professional ethics would dictate when he couldn’t find the source of my data rather than simply making up his own to generate his false narrative? And why didn’t Drovers bother to fact-check Speer’s paper that was clearly a baseless attack on the credibility of R-CALF USA, the largest producer-only cattle association in the United States?

Importantly, I used accurate data to prove my video’s proposition: When tight domestic cattle supplies are supplemented with imports that function as direct substitutes, cattle prices will fall.

But Speer persists in his deception by claiming other factors caused prices to fall. He claims heavier carcass weights resulted in the weight-equivalent of about 11,500 additional cattle, which he claims was “more than November’s marginal import contribution.” No, it wasn’t! Here’s proof:  42,000 imports slaughtered in November 2023 minus 28,000 imports slaughtered in November 2022 equals a marginal import contribution of 14,000 head of cattle. That means heavier carcass weights had less impact than the increased import slaughter.

At risk of wasting the readers time, I’ll point out one more of Speer’s blatant falsehoods just to demonstrate the untrustworthiness of Speer’s entire critique. My video states that because imported cattle arrive in the U.S. duty free, there is no adjustment for differences in currency valuations. In dramatic fashion, Speer takes offense and asserts: “Canadian cattle prices run in lock step with U.S. prices.” But Speer’s own chart reveals a huge disparity in the months leading up through November 2023, with Canadian cattle prices significantly lower than domestic cattle prices, perhaps by $5 or more per cwt lower, depending on the chart’s scalability. That’s a significant and harmful trade distortion.

But there’s a silver lining in every dark cloud. Addressing Speer’s baseless and deceptive accusations reveals that R-CALF USA’s research is more in-depth and probing than the research of so-called experts like Speer and whoever else he relies on to falsely attack R-CALF USA. As a result, Speer helps demonstrate that R-CALF USA reports cattle industry facts that no one else either knows how to report or is willing to report.

And that’s how R-CALF USA factually demonstrated that “Free Trade Distorts Domestic Cattle Prices.”

When readers learn who funds Speer’s false accusations about R-CALF USA, they can then assign to him the credibility he deserves.

Bill Bullard is the CEO of R-CALF USA, the nation’s largest nonprofit trade association exclusively representing cattle farmers and ranchers.

Bill Bullard photo available here.

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Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) is the largest producer-only cattle trade association in the United States. It is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle and sheep industries. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or call (406) 252-2516.