Biden pauses oil and gas leases, cuts subsidies in ‘bold’ climate steps

https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2021-01-27/biden-to-suspend-federal-drilling-strengthen-environmental-justice-in-new-climate-orders

• On Wednesday, President Biden signed a plethora of executive actions to combat climate change.
  • These actions included pausing new oil and gas leases on federal land and cutting fossil fuel subsidies to pursue the green policies that he claims will be a benefit to the economy.
• The President’s actions could not be more opposite of former President Trump who sought to maximize U.S. oil, gas and coal output.
• Biden stated that the U.S. has waited too long to address the climate crisis. Taking on climate change and increasing our economic growth and prosperity are one in the same, he claims.
  • Building a modern and resilient climate-related infrastructure and a clean energy future for the U.S. will create millions of good-paying union jobs.
    • This statement comes at a time when thousands of jobs have been lost due to the president terminating the Keystone XL Pipeline permit, according to Tri-State Livestock News.
  • International partners and environmental advocates have been more than happy to see Biden’s focus on climate change, but those involved with the oil industry are less than thrilled saying that these moves will cost the U.S. million of jobs and billions of dollars in revenue at a time when the U.S. economy is struggling due to Covid-19.
  • Biden also set a goal to conserve 30 percent of federal land and waters to protect wildlife by 2030 and seek to double renewable energy production from offshore wind also by 2030.
    • Almost a quarter of America’s oil and gas supply will come to a halt with this move, which has drawn intense criticism from states that depend on drilling revenue.
  • John Hess, CEO of energy company Hess Corporation, said that the Biden administration must to be mindful of their climate change agenda and the impact that it will have on jobs and energy security.
    • The new administration needs to realize that oil and gas is a strategic engine for the U.S. economy.

Beyond Meat shares soar 26% as company teams up with PepsiCo to make plant-based snacks and drinks

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/26/beyond-meat-and-pepsico-form-venture-to-make-plant-based-products.html?__source=newsletter%7Cbreakingnews

• On Tuesday, Beyond Meat and PepsiCo announced that they have come together in a joint venture to create, produce and market snacks and drinks with plant-based substitutes.
• After the news was released, shares of Beyond Meat jumped as much as 31 percent, while Pepsi’s stock only rose about 1 percent.
  • Just in the last year, Beyond Meat’s shares have gained 65 percent.
• This partnership will work well for Beyond Meat, as they will be able to leverage Pepsi’s production and marketing expertise for new products.
  • This partnership will be beneficial for Pepsi because they can deepen their investment in plant-based products, which continue to grow in popularity.

Controversy ensues after Taiwan expands access for U.S. red meat

https://www.feedstuffs.com/markets/controversy-ensues-after-taiwan-expands-access-us-red-meat

• On January 1, Taiwan implemented market access changes for imports of U.S. beef and pork.
  • Taiwan eliminated the rule that U.S. beef must be under the age of 30-months; they now accept beef of all ages from the U.S.
  • For pork, Taiwan established maximum residue limits for ractopamine residues, doing away with the zero-tolerance policy that was formerly in place.
• Even before these changes, Taiwan was a key destination for U.S. beef, as annual exports exceeded $500 million, according to Joel Haggard, U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) senior vice president for the Asia Pacific.
  • Taiwan is the sixth largest market for U.S. beef.
• When December data becomes available, USMEF believes that U.S. beef exports to Taiwan could set another new record in 2020.
• Throughout the pandemic, Taiwan’s beef demand has been steady due to the country doing a phenomenal job controlling the spread of the virus.
• Pork is a politically charged issue when it comes to Taiwan’s ractopamine policy change.
  • The country’s opposition party, Chinese Nationalist Party, plans to oppose the measure.
  • The new policy change has led to an expansion of country-of-origin labeling requirements to include processed products.
• Haggard believes that the opposition to this policy change may cause U.S. pork exports to slow a bit, but Taiwanese buyers are familiar with the safety and quality of U.S. pork, and demand will most like gradually rebound.

Boxed beef prices

www.nationalbeefwire.com

• Choice boxed beef: $229.66 (+0.60)
• Select boxed beef: $218.99 (+1.66)
• The choice boxed beef cutout is the third highest for the last week of January in history.