Markets
R-CALF USA has asked President Trump and House and Senate leaders to conduct a review the beef supply chain and consider “whether a physical and geographical restructuring of the meatpacking industry is required.”
“We need more small plants!”—-The tiny violin solo of the beef industry. To start: there are 853ish USDA beef kill plants in the US, the big four run 27 of them.
USDA’s monthly cattle on feed report estimated March placements to be the lowest since the data series began in 1996.
Cargill’s High River, Alta., beef harvest facility has slowed to one shift beginning this week to prioritize the health and safety of employees, reducing harvest to about 1,500 head per day.
Dozens of workers at Tyson’s Pasco, WA, beef plant have tested positive for COVID-19, but the plant will remain open under heightened health and safety procedures.
JBS USA says its Greeley, Colo., beef plant will be closed through Tuesday for “deep cleaning” in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19 among its thousands of employees. Two employee deaths have been reported.
Another steep decline in both fed cattle and feeder cattle was reported last week. Negotiated cash fed cattle sales were the second smallest since mandatory price reporting began in 2001.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Nebraska Senator Deb Fischer are asking President Donald Trump to investigate possible irregularities in the cattle markets over the past several weeks.
Officials in Weld County , Colo., and Hall County, Neb., are monitoring cases of COVID-19 that are linked to JBS USA beef packing facilities.
Unprecedented volatility in fed cattle markets during March produced a strong increase in negotiated cash sales from feedlots to packers the final two weeks of the month.
During a Facebook Live address to cattlemen Monday night, R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard outlined four actions his group proposes to “restore balance to our dysfunctional cattle markets.”
Texas congressman Mike Conaway told AgriTalk radio he believes an investigation into packer profits is likely, but encourages cattlemen and processors to continue working to feed Americans during the COVID-19 crisis.
Cash prices charged higher in feedyard country this week, leaving CME futures in the dust. Feeder cattle recovered most of the previous week’s losses.
The current cattle market situation creates significant disparities between the current supply and demand situation and expectations for coming supply and demand conditions.
Some American beef packing companies are adding to worker’s hourly pay and sick leave in response to the COVID-19 emergency. Some will earn an additional bonus for working all their shifts through May 3.
Panic meat buying emptied shelves and drove the Choice beef cutouts nearly $48 per cwt. higher. Cash fed cattle were higher, but not at a proportionate level.
Packer margin is significant. However, why is packer profitability the only focus, and we are not as outraged about the other “elephant in the room” issue within our market?
The U.S. and global economy is in uncharted waters. There are many unknowns about the timing, severity and aftermath of the disease. For beef, there are longer-term questions about the overall impact on demand.
Cattle markets will continue to be influenced by uncertainties from coronavirus, and the sharp selloff in financial markets. The DOW closed the week with a 1,985-point gain (9.4%), the DOW’s largest ever one-day gain.
The world’s largest potential market for beef seems to be shrinking under the strain of the cornonavirus as the government locked down cities for weeks and enforced wide-scale quarantines.
Progressive Beef™, a cattle management and sustainability system for feedlots, says more than two million cattle have been certified through the program and nearly four million cattle will be certified this year.
Cash fed cattle prices traded lower as futures prices set new lows for the week before a Friday rebound.
While cash fed cattle traded lower the past two weeks, traders anticipate a higher market toward spring as cattle numbers tighten seasonally and beef demand improves.
There was some hesitation among buyers this week as the CME futures had a downward turn and sell-off early in the trading period. Steers and heifers sold lower at auctions.
Agricultural Marketing Service reporters said the market was most active on “lightweight cattle, in light flesh, as numbers of those cattle are not as plentiful as their heavier mates.”
Cattle feeders were unable to push the cash market higher, settling for mostly steady money as packers were noticeably less aggressive with much narrower profit margins.
A pair of lawsuits filed last year involving a packing company and two producers have been dismissed following a confidential settlement.
Lawyers for America’s largest beef packing companies asked a federal judge on Friday to dismiss the class action suit filed against them by a group of ranchers last year.
Walmart held a grand opening of its Thomasville, Georgia, beef processing facility that will supply Black Angus beef to some 500 of its retail stores in the southeast.
Steers and heifers suitable for grazing programs sold sharply higher in the week ended Jan. 10. AMS reporters called demand good to very good at livestock auctions nationwide.