Market Alley is written by Brad Hulett, Director of Customer Development for Consolidated Beef Producers, Amarillo, Texas.
The cash cattle market is slowly but steadily closer to being on the right track in moving toward a more positive cash price. Producers in need of moving out of the red and into the black would like to see the upward momentum move at a much faster pace. Cattle in the South traded mostly at $96 with a few up to $96.75 by late last week.
The North again continued to keep their premium over the South with cash trades up to $100 and dressed cattle as high as $159. Feeders in the North anticipate maintaining this advantage for some time, while the South tries to work through larger numbers of backed up cattle.
Kansas traded more cattle live last week than they have in a very long time. If this trend of trading larger numbers of cattle each week can continue, Kansas and Texas could see some breathing room for feeders by the end of the summer.
Many producers in the South anticipate a period where committed numbers are potentially lower than the normal. If this becomes reality feeders should add money to the cash market every week.
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