Retail grocery will transition from limited beef supplies in recent weeks to ample supplies at the same time food service demand is slowly building this fall.
Drought conditions have expanded rapidly in recent weeks and while many regions do not yet face imminent actions, it is not too early to develop drought plans for your ranch.
Barring a major setback, it appears that America's beef markets are moving past the worst of the COVID-19 disruptions that have caused upheaval in recent weeks.
The feedlot industry will spend much of the summer working through the backlog of fed cattle but the hole from March and April feedlot placements should provide a marketing window to catch up by this fall if not before.
Overall feed and forage will be favorable and provide more flexibility for feeder and feedlot cattle operations. Potentially emerging drought conditions are a threat and may reduce production and marketing flexibility.
The cattle industry sees a glimmer of hope in last week's harvest data, with estimated slaughter at 452,000 head, down 32.2 percent year-over-year, but up 6.4 percent from the prior week.
Consumers first saw beef supply disruptions in March when the shutdown of food service shifted demand to the retail grocery side where supply chain bottlenecks and a surge in demand resulted in temporary shortages.
