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%.
Cattle and boxed beef markets have posted significant gains over the past two weeks in a continuation of what has been an impressive recovery since the unsettled markets of August/September.
From a seller’s perspective, the fed-cattle trade continues to improve, with last week’s numbers making it the third straight week of higher prices since September 9th.
Seasonality and the conclusion of the Labor Day holiday were easy indicators that the market would be weaker in both the live cattle and boxed beef segments.
From a CAB production view, the temporary loss of one of our largest product sources is a concern and the marketplace will likely respond to the supply hit with some logical and some added emotional reaction.
With the passing of Memorial Day and the unofficial start of summer upon us, sellers of highly marbled, finished cattle are wondering where the demand is.
Texas packers have enjoyed a most-recent March quality surge with both Choice and Prime grade ticking noticeably higher when the 1st quarter came to a close.
The beef cattle trade has been highlighting this winter’s weather market for several weeks now, but the impact from last week’s bomb cyclone the cattle feeding belt has escalated problems for cattle performance.
