Latest News From Brad Hulett

Cattle trade disappointing
Pre-Holiday Cattle Trade Disappointment

Cattle feeders knew selling ahead of a short holiday week would create additional challenges for cash cattle prices and the ability to move cattle. Unfortunately, trade volumes met low expectations.

Showlists are growing
Formula Cattle Continue As A Drain On The Market

The downward spiral in the cash cattle trade is ongoing as the number of market-ready cattle continues to grow. Showlists are already overburdened to date, and market-ready cattle add to the list weekly.

Cash prices continue to tumble
Cash Market Spread Narrows As Prices Tumble

Cattle harvest is now approaching 660,000 head and with added carcass weights the amount of beef production is growing rapidly.

Cash prices traded in a wide range
Cash Continues To Slide As Feeders Lack Leverage

Packers continued to keep the trading range wide last week while lowering their bids. Many feeders passed on bids they believe are not reflective of current cattle values.

Cash prices traded steady
The Fake Cash Market May Be Over

Cash prices are steady for now, but Tyson turned down some cattle last week that they thought are now too big, which is a huge concern other feeders may encounter in the near future.

Cash cattle prices trend higher
Slowly But Surely Cash Prices Climb

Cash cattle prices traded higher last week, and for the first time in several weeks most of the major beef packing plants should be up and running this week, though not full-throttle.

Cash traded in a wide range
Cash Cattle: Is This The Bottom?

The South saw another wide trading range last week as prices ranged from $95 to $115 per cwt. for cash fed cattle with just two packers active in the negotiated cash market.

Prices steady in a wide range
Feedlot Struggles Continue

Light cash trade continued with a wide price range. Two of the major packers were active in the market, with one actively making an effort to support prices.

Cash cattle decline again
Packing Plant Bottleneck Continues To Plague Cattle Feeders

The cattle industry continues to struggle getting cattle out of feedyards and into harvest facilities, leading to another week of limited trade.

Soft packer demand continues
Poor Harvest Rate Continues To Challenge Cattle Trade

The reduced number of cattle harvested wasn’t a surprise with the issues that all packers have faced in the past few weeks with COVID-19.

Cash cattle prices under pressure
Market Retreat Expected With Smaller Harvests

Cattle feeders experienced a week of light participation from packers as the impact of COVID-19 begins to hamper beef production facilities.

Packer demand was soft last week.
Cash Market Falters On Soft Packer Demand

Cash cattle prices were under pressure as packer demand was soft in both the North and South last week. Numbers of ready cattle will grow in the coming weeks.

Cattle prices rallied last week.
Higher Cash Is Probably Short-Lived

Can prices gained in last week's fed cattle rally be maintained? There is some concern that the lack of cattle moving in the cash trade is starting to back cattle up and hurt hard-earned gains.

Disconnect Between Cash, Futures And Packers

Packer margin is significant. However, why is packer profitability the only focus, and we are not as outraged about the other “elephant in the room” issue within our market?

Pandemonium Over Coronavirus Drives Cash Lower

Cattle producers continued to be in the crosshairs of the chaos in the global markets. In the south producers found $110 was the best trade they could get, with cattle trading as low as $105 by the end of last week.

Markets are on a rollercoaster
CME Board Mimics A Rollercoaster

After several days of up and downs in CME futures prices, cattle feeders saw their chances of getting back to steady slip away on Thursday as the board sold off.

A wide basis jump-started last week's cattle trade.
Coronavirus Takes Its Toll On The Cattle Market

If there was ever a question of how much outside influence there is on the cattle market it was completely exposed this past week with fears over the coronavirus growing.

Cash cattle traded higher
Brad Hulett: Cash Up, Board Down

Cattle traded in the south early in the week at $1 higher prices, suggesting packers were hungry for inventory.

Cash cattle traded lower
Cash Market Stumbles Before Board Runs

If investors continue to find value in the live cattle market, producers may see a run in the board that could carry over into the live cattle trade.

Cash prices traded lower
Brad Hulett: Cash Backs Up

Packers didn't show much interest in pursuing additional inventory last week, and the result was a cash market that traded $1 lower.

Cattle markets traded $2 lower
Positive Basis Encourages Lower Trade

Last Monday the cattle market felt the same negativity as all other markets with the uncertainty of what may happen to global trade due to the effects of the coronavirus.

Cash cattle sold at steady prices
Sideways Cattle Market Continues

The market is sitting in a holding position in this mid $120’s range, and the movement is anticipated to remain flat for the short-term.

Cash cattle traded steady
Distressed Futures Keeps Cattle Market Steady

While the CME futures was under distress last week, hedgers were able to receive the best basis they have seen for several weeks and the result was a steady cash market.

Cattle traded steady
Packer Inventory and Margins Stall Cash Rise.

Surplus packer inventories and halted Saturday kills due to dwindling processing margins has stalled out the cash cattle market for now.

Cash cattle traded higher
Positive Start To New Year For Cattle Feeders

Packers were aggressive in obtaining inventory to start the new year, and the result was a cash cattle market that gained $2 in both the north and south.

Prices trend higher
Packers have desire to keep inventory

Packers were eager to push their inventory higher last week and prices in all regions responded by moving $1 to $2 higher.

Cattle feeders were rewarded for patience last week.
Late Traders Take Advantage of Market Rally

In anticipation of reduced harvest during the holidays, packers are sitting in a good inventory position going into the next few weeks.

Cash cattle sold steady.
Cattle Feeders Let Packers Off Easy

Last week was one of the last chances for cattle feeders to push the market up to the $120-plus price range. Three packers were in the market to buy cattle by feeders chose to settle for steady money.

Cash cattle pushed higher
Board Pushes Cash Cattle Higher

The cash cattle market continues to be the best broken-record producers ever heard of late as three of the four major packer participated in the live trade last week.

All four major packers were active bidders.
Pre-holiday Cattle Trade Brings Unprecedented Results

Cash cattle traded higher again and all four major packers participated in last week’s trade, including Tyson for the Finney County, Kan., plant.

Cash fed cattle traded higher last week.
Anticipating Market Slow-Down Ahead Of Holiday

Packer market participation wasn’t as robust as it had been in earlier weeks, and packers have slowly added to their inventory ahead of the holidays.

Cash cattle traded $2 to $3 higher.
How Much Higher Can Cash Cattle Go?

Strong wholesale beef prices keep packer margins solidly profitable and encourage packers to be aggressive participants.

Packers were still hunting front end cattle late last Friday.
Are Packers Slowly Ceding Leverage To Feedyards?

Packers were still hunting front end cattle late last Friday, knowing that feeders would have their sights set on a higher December board for the trade this week.

Cash cattle traded $1 to $2 higher
Beef Packers Remain Hungry

Beef packers continued to show signs that they still need cattle to meet the demand of their customers and paid higher prices last week.

Cattle prices declined last week
Cash Cattle Market Steps Back

Cash cattle markets backed up last week from a steady upward movement due to a boiler explosion, and the three days of unexpected downtime at Cargill’s Dodge City plant.

Cattle markets slowly advancing.
Cash Cattle Slow But Steady

Cattle feeders continue to take advantage of the advancing cash market, with higher sales in all regions last week.

Cash cattle moved higher.
Cash Market Stays On Track

The upward trend in cash cattle could continue through the holiday rib demand, with Choice product being in short supply.

Cash cattle prices moved higher last week.
Cash Cattle Slowly Higher

All cattle feeding areas were able to take advantage of the packer’s need for cattle last week and cash prices moved higher.

The premium for northern cattle has dwindled.
Stopping The Cash Backslide

The $1 threshold seemed to be a sticking point for cattle feeders last week, and many held firm on Friday which could prove to give cash prices a needed boost.

Cash cattle prices were softer again.
Hits Keep Coming to Cash Market

The lack of aggressive trade was noticed mostly in the south where cash trade could not get any higher than $1.00 last week.

Packer's have maintained their leverage.
Over-Committed Supply Becomes A Burden

If anything good comes from the Tyson fire, maybe it will be that everyone will realize the burden of our over-committed fed cattle supply.

Lower CME futures limited cash gains.
Lower Board Hinders Cash Rally

Poor performance from CME futures on Friday limited what cattle feeders could gain back on the cash market from the declines over the last few weeks.

Many unanswered questions remain about packer capacity.
Market Brings What Most Expected

Packers were hesitant to offer a bid on cattle early last week, and after a $5 decline, feeders still have many unanswered questions about the impact of harvest capacity.

Lack of packer participation was an issue last week.
Where Does The Market Go After Tyson Fire?

Packer participation in the cattle market was an issue even before Friday night's fire at Tyson's Holcomb, Kan., beef packing facility.

Packers enjoyed a comfortable inventory last week.
Declining Packer Need Pressures Market

Packers enjoyed a comfortable inventory last week, and many have stopped Saturday harvests, which helped push cash cattle prices $1 per cwt. lower.

Cattle feeders’ perseverance paid dividends.
Perseverance Pays Off

Cattle feeders’ perseverance paid dividends as they held out for steady to higher cash trade in all feeding regions.

Last week's cash cattle trade was disappointing.
Cattle Feeder Is Own Worst Enemy

Last week’s trade was the greatest disappointment of the last few months of downward trends in the cash cattle market.

The long-awaited cattle rally occurred last week.
Finally, Finally,Finally, – Cattle Rally

The fluctuation in the cash price in this trade seemed to be mostly dependent on the location of the cattle, with prices ranging from $114-$116, with dressed trade at $182-$185.

Early trades in Kansas and Texas at $109 left a $1 on the table
Fed Cattle Trade Finds Winners And Losers

Over the next few weeks patience and a calm trigger finger could be profitable to the cattle feeder as the supply of market-ready cattle declines.

A negative corn report pushed cattle markets lower.
Cattle Feeders Can’t Catch A Break

Cattle feeders were hopeful that last week was the bottom of the decline in cash cattle prices, but a negative corn report helped prices even lower.