LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – According to the USDA’s latest cattle inventory report, beef cow inventory is at its lowest in Nebraska since 1960, with cattle herd size decreasing by 20% since 2019 due in large part to drought.

It’s a trend that has been seen across the country, with that same report showing a 13% decline in cattle inventory across the United States over the past seven years.

That reality was the inspiration behind a deal signed by President Trump last week to import an additional $800 million in beef from Argentina to the United States in 2026.

“We do import beef from a number of different countries, so the fact we’re going to import more is not new,” Mark McHargue, the president of the Nebraska Farm Bureau, said. “We just need to ensure there’s not anything relative to the trade conversation that would lessen our producers’ ability to make money.”

The per-pound price of beef has increased by nearly $3 since 2019, according the Federal Reserve.

The per pound price of beef has increased by nearly three dollars since 2019, according the Federal Reserve.

But McHargue says this plan will lower prices “artificially” and could work against the interests of some.

“We start bringing more product in from outside our borders and that’s going to be competitive to those that have been here in Nebraska growing beef, growing cattle for a long time,” he said. “They’ve been struggling to finally make a profit and then we bring in too much from some place else, lower their competitive advantage — that takes money out of their pockets.”

Sharing those concerns is Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer, who released a statement in response to the decision.

The Nebraska Cattlemen released a statement of their own in response.

10/11 also spoke with one cattle farmer in Malcolm, who did not want to be named but said he supports President Trump’s move to quadruple beef imports. He said cattle supply is currently so low that producing enough ground beef for consumers isn’t doable. In his opinion, imported meat will keep products available and reasonably priced until farmers like him are able to build their inventory back up.

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Sen. Eliot Bostar is the sponsor of legislation (LB1185) that would require providers of conversational artificial intelligence, or AI services, to disclose to users under 18 that they are not human. Such disclosures would have to be made at the start of each session and at least every three hours after that. Providers would also be required to avoid providing sexual content or simulating romantic relationships. And if users talk about self-harm or suicide, providers would have to make “reasonable efforts” to refer them to suicide hotlines or other appropriate services.

Among those supporting the bill in the hearing before the Banking, Commerce and Insurance Committee was author Mary Pipher, a clinical psychologist and author of Letters to a Young Therapist. Pipher reflected on changes in society since 2004.

“Social media was really just getting started. Cell phones came in in 2007 so the changes between 2004 and 2016 were significant. But since 2016 till now, we’ve had the rise of AI and chatbots. We’ve had the COVID pandemic, and we’ve had a rapidly changing culture that presents all of us with unique challenges that humans have never faced before,” Pipher said.

Support also came from representatives of Google and from Emily Allen of Tech Nebraska, part of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Allen said the bill takes a reasonable approach.

“We view this bill as a constructive starting point for what we often call smart regulation, policy that protects people while still allowing innovation to move forward,” Allen said. “Tech and in this case, AI, is evolving faster than any legislative body can realistically keep pace with. That being said, this bill reflects a good faith effort to put reasonable guardrails in place.”

No one spoke against the bill.

The committee also heard another bill (LB1083), which would require large chatbot developers or providers to take measures to protect public safety and children, and disclose how they assess and manage such risks.

The “whole time” is almost uncomfortably accurate. As he mapped each colony, Brust overlaid them on the habitats of the state’s glacial relict fish populations; in other words, those that have been present since the Ice Age glaciers have retreated.

Wherever he found the fish, he’d find the hopper.

“It has everything to do with the cold water system,” he said, “That water is keeping the environment cold enough for that fish to survive.”

But those environments and the grasshoppers therein could be in danger if the state endures milder and milder winters.

“You know, there is cause for concern, especially as climate change keeps warming things up,” he said. “These are already a cool weather species, they’ll probably become even more and more limited.”

Brust is also concerned that human intervention may cause some habitat destruction.

“We could see a change in land use, drainage of some habitat areas, and I’m especially concerned, here in Nebraska, about invasive grasses,” he added.

The northern spur-throat eats only a handful of specific native plants.

However, Brust said the good news is that the species isn’t extinct, or even declining yet, and he’s hoping that its resurgence and growth can prove to be a bellwether for the state’s cold-weather ecosystems.

“The number of these wetland sites that I surveyed thoroughly versus how many are out there in the Sandhills, and how extensive they are, I’d bet there’s probably five to 10 times more out there than I accounted for,” Brust said.