Drovers
Ranchers, no longer riding the crest of a supply-starved market, cinched up early this year for the inevitable ride lower. Few, however, expected the steep price decline for all classes of cattle and the volatility that has seeped out of the trading pits in Chicago.
The average price of choice beef at retail was $6.20 per pound during June.
The market is well supported at the current cash price levels even though live cattle futures continue to fall.
New Hampshire’s Health Department says it’s investigating an outbreak of E. coli bacteria associated with ground beef after 12 people got sick eating the meat since June.
Live cattle prices are hitting the summer wall and hitting it hard.
The latest beef and cattle trade data shows a mixed bag of global market impacts. Total beef exports were down 5.3 percent in April compared to last year.
The key comparative advantages currently enjoyed by North America’s integrated industry include a strong trust and premium being placed on their grain-finished beef.
Beef demand unlikely to slip, but weights could fall amid heat.
Most folks in agriculture prefer American-made products, though most of us wear, own or perhaps drive some imports.
Just 8% of U.S. pastures are in poor to very poor condition, according to USDA. It is a 2% improvement from last year.
Job growth has continued to drop the past few months, a sign that consumer beef demand could be in trouble.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed that the first shipment of U.S. beef recently arrived in South Africa following the reopening of the South African market earlier this year.
Market ready cattle prices were spurred by a relatively strong futures market and a strengthening in wholesale beef prices.
The Choice cutout was $212.05 down $0.45 from Thursday and down $8.45 from last Friday, while fed cattle trade was $2 to $3 lower than a week ago on a live basis.
The recent price pressure is not necessarily a bad thing as it may benefit packers and feedlots alike down the road.
Foreign demand for U.S. beef was down 13.2% in 2015 and has been down in two of the first three months of 2016.
In a high or low cattle market environment, capturing the most pounds per calf affects a producer’s bottom line, said a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service economist.
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Producers are going to have to be a little more savvy in marketing calves and feeder cattle since forward pricing opportunities appear limited.
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There was little change in finished cattle prices this week which likely has feedlot managers sweating bullets.
“Too big, too fat, too inconsistent,” is how Hop Dickinson, former CEO of the American Hereford Association, described cattle in the 1990s.
More beef and lower prices should be positive for U.S. international trade.
“On Twitter, our following is a young, urban, millennial guy making Hamburger Helper in his dorm room.”
Consumers are using their leftover gasoline money at the grocery counter, says Matt Bennett, Bennett Consulting.
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Downward slide in prices expected to ease, but still trending lower.
There were 491 million pounds of beef in cold storage at the end of February.