"We've got to get our customers back, " said cattleman Henry Hurrell, whose herd's net worth has been reduced to nothing.

CNN: France supports slaughter of British cattle if necessary

That, thought Briggs Cunningham III, a wealthy Kentucky cattleman, made him the perfect partner for a business proposition he had a few years ago.

FORBES: Super car, super feud

That made him, thought Briggs Cunningham III, a wealthy Kentucky cattleman, the perfect partner for a business proposition he had a few years ago.

FORBES: Super Car, Super Feud

Doug Fine went to one vast ranch in New Mexico where a cattleman believes this program of payments for conversation makes it financially viable to get his spread intact.

NPR: Saving Ranchland from Suburban Sprawl

Plaintiffs led by cattleman Paul Engler sued Winfrey, her production company and Howard Lyman, a vegetarian activist guest who warned of a possible outbreak of mad cow disease in the United States.

CNN: Oprah: 'Free speech rocks'

"We can change the dynamic of the discussion going on with the consumer with two phrases: We care and we're capable, " Daren Williams, an executive at the cattleman's association, told a recent MBA class in Denver.

WSJ: Beef Industry Carves a Course