Reports from several feeders indicate that the 2023 spring-born calves, now being harvested, spent more days in the feedyard this year than in more typical recent years.
Aside from the added carcass tonnage, the leap in carcass weights - driven by extra days on feed - has generated a noted shift in carcass marbling and quality grade achievement.
This week’s holiday-shortened harvest, coupled with recent advances in boxed beef prices and stronger Live Cattle futures should prove supportive to fed cattle prices.
Carcass marbling has benefitted from extra days on feed and heavier carcass weights resulting from current market conditions. Thus, the beef from fed cattle is historically quality-rich for this time of the year.
Beef carcass cutout values have continued a precipitous decline since mid-March, tracking a 5% lower trend in that period. That is firmly against the trend charted in the previous three-year average.
Over the past five weeks the combined Prime and Choice carcasses harvested totaled 84.7%, a six percentage point increase over the September low of 78.7%.
The latest data on steer weights shows 23 pounds heavier than a year ago at 922-pounds, record-high for the first two weeks in March. That’s a sharply higher trend line in a time when weights historically trend lighter.
Certified Angus Beef has captured detailed carcass measurements on several million Angus-type carcasses over the past 17 years to learn about brand-eligible, Angus-influenced carcasses across the industry.
