John Nalivka

John Nalivka is the president of Sterling Marketing, Inc., which provides economic research and market advisory services to the livestock and meat industries. He became affiliated with Sterling in 1991 as executive vice president and he has owned the company since 1994. Nalivka serves clients across the red meat supply chain from producers to end-users.

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Check out the Sterling Marketing Profit Tracker for week of August 1.
Food price is real. Ask any American about their budget for groceries. However, there is another part to this story that is rarely mentioned in these news stories – the cost to produce food.
While I do not need the government to tell me how the cost of living has increased, the most recent data for July is now available. To be honest, I question whether the officially reported inflation figures align with what we are experiencing.
The economic environment of both the beef and pork industries has changed. Capacity utilization for both beef and pork has a significant impact on margins and the market impact goes beyond supply and demand.
Further processing of value-added products for direct sale to end-user customers in both retail and foodservice will increase over the next five years and help feed the growing global consumer demand.
“Living and working in the middle of the majority of U.S. crop and livestock production is important – and close to America’s top-notch agriculture-based universities,” says John Nalivka.
When a plant increases operational capacity, there is an increase in total industry capacity which in turn has economic ramifications through the cattle cycle as the inventory is expanded or liquidated.