U.S. oil industry seeks unusual alliance with Farm Belt to fight Biden electric vehicle agenda

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-electric-cars-exclusive/exclusive-u-s-oil-industry-seeks-unusual-alliance-with-farm-belt-to-fight-biden-electric-vehicle-agenda-idUSKBN29X2O8

• To fight the Biden administration’s push for electric vehicles, the U.S. oil industry is hoping to create an alliance with the nation’s corn growers and biofuel producers, but so far has been met with resistance.
• The petroleum industry wanting to form an alliance with U.S. corn growers and biofuel producers is an alliance that can be classified as unusual since they have been rivals for some time now.
  • Nonetheless, these efforts show the level of concern over President Biden’s measure to combat climate change and shutter fossil fuels.
    • Sources say that the biofuel and corn industry aren’t just reluctant to join forces because of their rivalry in the past, but also because the groups do not want to publicly oppose the energy policies of the new president.
  • The fight against electric vehicle policy faces some hurdles as California announced a ban all internal combustion engines by 2035 and other states are considering similar measures.
    • Additionally, automaker General Motors announced last Thursday that it would only produce electric vehicles after 2035.

Cattle wars: Amid lawsuit, Washington’s Easterday Ranches has sold a large feedlots to one of Tyson’s competitors

https://www.kuow.org/stories/cattle-wars-amid-lawsuit-wa-s-easterday-ranches-sells-big-feed-property-to-tyson-competitor

• Tyson recently filed a lawsuit against Washington-based Easterday Ranches seeking to obtain a neutral third party to take over Easterday’s operation until accounts could be settled.
  • This suit comes after Easterday supposedly made up hundreds of thousands of fictitious cattle on paper and then claimed to have fed them, which ended up costing Tyson about $285 million.
• To add to this ongoing story, last week Easterday Ranches sold its major feedlot property in Franklin County, known as the “North Lot”, to a direct competitor of Tyson: Agri Beef Livestock based out of Boise, ID.
  • The North Lot consists of 1,500 acres that includes a large feedlot and irrigated and dry land farming.
    • According to the Franklin County Assessor’s Office, the purchase cost Agri Beef $16 million.
  • AB Livestock is a division of Agri Beef Co., which owns Washington Beef, a competitive beef packer based in Toppenish, Washington.
    • AB Livestock said that the acquisition from Easterday Ranches plays a strategic role in its commitment and vision for growth.
      • Matt Buyers, President of Agri Beef Livestock said in a press release that this purchase will increase the company’s business with local Northwest suppliers, and it will also decrease reliance on cattle supplies from Canada.
    • Easterday Ranches only made up 2 percent of Tyson’s total beef on a national scale, but they made up a much larger portion of Tyson’s non-disclosed beef processed at the Tyson plant near Pasco, WA, which is widely known for making beef patties for Wendy’s.

No tuna in Subway’s tuna sandwiches and wraps, lawsuit claims

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/subway-tuna-sandwiches-wraps-lawsuit/

• According to a lawsuit filed against Subway, the fast-food chain’s tuna salad sandwiches and wraps don’t include any actual fish.
  • The lawsuit was filed two weeks ago in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of two California residents.
• The complaint states that Subway mixes together various concoctions that aren’t tuna, but the mixture comes out to imitate the appearance of tuna.
• A spokesperson for Subway denied all the claims in the lawsuit stating that the company delivers 100 percent cooked tuna to its restaurants.
• This suit isn’t the first legal dispute that raised questions regarding Subway’s products.
  • In September, Ireland’s Supreme Court ruled that the bread Subway uses in its sandwiches could not legally be called bread due to its high sugar content.
  • In 2017, an appeals court threw out a class-action settlement over claims that the chain’s “footlong subs” were an inch shy of what was actually advertised.

January 1 cattle inventory down slightly

https://www.nationalbeefwire.com/cattle-inventory-highlights

• USDA revised the 2019 beef herd numbers to show a smaller calf crop, which many were expecting with the increased heifer slaughter in recent years.
• All cattle and calves in the U.S. as of January 1, 2021 totaled 93.6 million head, slightly below the 93.8 million head on January 1, 2020.
• All cows and heifers that have calved, at 40.6 million head, slightly below the 40.7 million head on January 1, 2020.
• Beef cows were noted at 31.2 million head, down 1 percent from year-ago levels.
• Milk cows were noted at 9.44 million head, up 1 percent from last year.

Boxed beef prices

www.nationalbeefwire.com

• Choice boxed beef: $233.95 (+1.96)
• Select boxed beef: $222.70 (+1.82)