Kansas

Kansas City area cattle ranchers see beef marketing opportunity in trade war

Published

9 months ago

April 18, 2025

Kansas City area cattle ranchers see beef marketing opportunity in trade war

BUTLER, Mo. — Kansas City area livestock producers are closely watching the economy as the United States navigates an international trade war.

“We’ve got to keep the economy strong to keep our beef prices going good,” explained Tim Clifton, a field representative and cattle rancher with MoKan Livestock Market.

Brian Luton/KSHB

Tim Clifton

The announcement of retaliatory tariffs on international trade partners rocked the stock market during the early stages of implementation. Missouri and Kansas livestock growers rely on a strong stock market to keep their prices high. When the market took a plunge a few weeks ago, so did cattle prices.

“When the stock market recovered, the cattle markets are back pretty much 100% to what they were three weeks ago,” said Clifton.

While a big focus is the economy, Clifton tells KSHB 41, there is an opportunity knocking at their door.

“We’re importing all kinds of Australian beef, and Australia doesn’t take any of our beef,” he explained. “We were taking their beef in, and they’re not taking any of ours. So that tariff is good for us.”

In the last five years, the U.S. cattle population declined due to drought.

American cattlemen were forced to cull herds to keep up with the cost of production.

The U.S. livestock head count has decreased by 1% in the last year since Jan. 1, 2025, to a total of 86.7 million.

The lowest head count since 1951, according to a report from AGDAILY.

American beef exports have only increased in billions of pounds since 2020.

Clifton tells KSHB 41 that implementing tariffs on trade competitors like Brazil could make his business more competitive.

“We get all this Brazilian beef coming in, and little goes back to Brazil of our beef,” he explained.

In the United States, four companies control 85% of America’s meat-packing industry: Tyson, JBS, Cargill, and National Beef.

Tim Clifton and KSHB 41 News Reporter Ryan Gamboa

JBS and National Beef are Brazilian-based companies.

“We import all this lean beef that we don’t know how it’s handled, what kind of regulations, what kind of antibiotics regulations they’re given. We import all this beef, the big four packers import it here,” Clifton expressed. “They cut it, they can mix it with our beef, do whatever they want, and the consumer doesn’t know. That’s where it could be beneficial for us, stopping some of that beef coming in that we don’t really need.”

Canada leads in exports of beef to the United States at 29% of U.S. product. Mexico and Brazil aren’t far behind.

Last year, Reuters reported on a positive case of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or more commonly referred to as “Mad Cow Disease”.

“We need to stop importing so much of this beef. We could process ourselves,” Clifton said.

Clifton says that engaging in stricter trade practices should create greater food independence in the United States.

“We’re relying on people that we don’t really need to be relying on,” he added. “We need to be relying on ourselves first.”

As long as the economy remains strong, Clifton sees positives for the American cattlemen and, more importantly, consumers.

“We’re really at an opportunity here to try to lower some of our input costs… If we can lower some of our input costs and keep our market strong, we’re set up for a good spot here,” Clifton said. “It would be a benefit to try and get more U.S. beef to a U.S. consumer. If this could all work out in our favor.”

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KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Share your story idea with Ryan.

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Related Topics:Agriculture Big 4 Packers Brazil Cargill cattle cattle ranchers consumer consumer news Farm Bureau Featured food

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Kansas

IU football lands Kansas State transfer edge rusher Tobi Osunsanmi

Published

11 hours ago

January 4, 2026

Press Room

IU football lands Kansas State transfer edge rusher Tobi Osunsanmi

Indiana’s portal haul continued to grow Sunday as multiple outlets reported the addition of Kansas State edge rusher Tobi Osunsanmi.

Osunsanmi has played in 36 games over the last four years and has 8.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss. Most of that production came over the last two seasons. He has a total of 47 QB pressures during his college career.

In 2025 he played in six games and had 20 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. He suffered a season-ending injury in October.

He saw action in all 13 games in 2024 as a reserve defensive end and on special teams, recording 19 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and a forced fumble over 303 defensive snaps and 31 special teams plays.

In 2023 he saw time in all 13 games as a reserve linebacker, a rush end on passing downs and on special teams. He was tied for team-high honors with five tackles on kickoff coverage.

He played in four games in 2022 and preserved his redshirt.

The 6-foot-3 and 250-pound Osunsanmi has one year of eligibility remaining.

The Wichita, Kan. product (Wichita East H.S.) was regarded as the 232nd-best overall player in the nation for the Class of 2022 by 247Sports.

Osunsanmi will help fill the void left by outgoing edge rushers Mikail Kamara, Kellan Wyatt and Stephen Daley.

More transfer portal information:

For complete coverage of IU football recruiting, GO HERE.

The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”

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Kansas

Kansas football transfer portal tracker: Jan. 4 developments for KU

Published

23 hours ago

January 4, 2026

Press Room

Kansas football transfer portal tracker: Jan. 4 developments for KU

LAWRENCE — The Division I transfer portal window for college football is open from Jan. 2 through Jan. 16, and that means Sunday is another chance for the Kansas football program to shape its roster.

The Jayhawks already gained one public addition earlier this offseason in Grand Valley State transfer Jibriel Conde — whose signing was announced Dec. 4. Conde, who is making the jump up from Division II, is a 247Sports-rated three-star defensive lineman in the portal and is listed by KU as a defensive tackle. On Saturday, a number of current Kansas players — including redshirt freshman quarterback Isaiah Marshall, redshirt sophomore wide receiver Keaton Kubecka and redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Blake Herold — also outlined in social media posts on X that they are locked in with the program for the 2026 season.

Marshall is set to compete for the starting quarterback job next season. Kubecka has the chance to step up into a more significant role at wide receiver. Herold is in line to be a key part of Kansas’ defensive line.

Those positives, though, don’t outweigh the fact that there has been a sizable group of players who have revealed their intentions to transfer away. Looking overall, when it comes to those whose decisions became public before and after the portal opened, the significant names to know include redshirt senior safety Lyrik Rawls, redshirt junior linebacker Trey Lathan and freshman quarterback David McComb. Lathan led KU in tackles in 2025.

Check in here for more updates during this transfer portal window about a KU team that finished 5-7 during the 2025 season, with transfer ratings as outlined by 247Sports.

Kansas football transfer portal additions

Jibriel Conde (3-star defensive lineman from Grand Valley State) — KU lists him as a defensive tackle

Kansas football transfer portal departures

Joseph Sipp Jr. (linebacker)

Jacoby Davis (cornerback)

Dylan Brooks (defensive end)

Jaidyn Doss (wide receiver)

Carter Lavrusky (offensive lineman)

Trey Lathan (linebacker)

Tyler Mercer (offensive lineman)

Harry Stewart III (running back)

Caleb Redd (3-star edge) — KU lists him as a defensive end

Aundre Gibson (3-star cornerback)

David McComb (3-star quarterback)

Kene Anene (3-star interior offensive lineman) — KU lists him as an offensive lineman

Laquan Robinson (3-star safety)

Jameel Croft Jr. (3-star cornerback)

Logan Brantley (3-star linebacker)

Greydon Grimes (3-star offensive tackle) — KU lists him as an offensive lineman

Jon Jon Kamara (3-star linebacker)

Lyrik Rawls (3-star safety)

Damani Maxson (3-star safety)

Jaden Hamm (tight end)

Bryce Cohoon (wide receiver)

JaCorey Stewart (linebacker)

Johnny Thompson Jr. (running back)

Efren Jasso (punter)

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

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