Market Reports
The beef industry is looking toward “Beef Month” to sustain the strongest market rally in history.
Despite a historic 15% Prime grade achievement, heavier carcass weights and excess backfat are creating new hurdles for the Certified Angus Beef brand.
Beef has built a rapidly widening price gap over competing meats in the grocery store. This trend has become increasingly pronounced since the early 2000s, but as beef supplies have tightened over the past three years, the pace of the widening price disparity has accelerated.
October results are in and the data is positive for the U.S. red meat industry.
Brad Kooima with Kooima Kooima Varilek says the cattle futures are overbought after last week’s higher weekly closes. So this is a healthy correction.
August data showed a relatively strong performance for U.S. pork exports. But beef exports were sharply lower than a year ago, impacted heavily by an impasse with China that has effectively locked U.S. beef out of the world’s largest import market.
Check out the Sterling Marketing Profit Tracker for week of Nov. 15.
Market swings and heavy lifting ahead for cutout values.
Brad Kooima of Kooima Kooima Varilek says live and feeder cattle futures are sharply higher on Monday as news came late Sunday that New World Screwworm (NWS) had been detected 70 miles from the U.S. Mexican border. in an 8-month-old calf from a transported herd.
Market access obstacles continued to weigh heavily on exports of U.S. beef, while pork exports accounted for a larger share of production, USMEF says.
Market analysts agree there are only a handful of factors that could slow down or stop the incredible rally in the cattle market.
Economists further breakdown USDA’s Cattle on Feed Report and Cattle Inventory Report that were released on Friday. The Cattle Inventory Report showed the smallest U.S. herd in history and a smaller calf crop, plus the Cattle on Feed Report confirmed continued tightening numbers on feed.
With tight supplies and a strong demand, cull cow prices continue to set records.