Latest News From Markets

"When ranchers and cattle feeders read the day’s news and reports, there needs to be a positive dialogue. We ought not squander the opportunity."

The upward trend in cash cattle could continue through the holiday rib demand, with Choice product being in short supply.

While many cattlemen were surprised and frustrated with market reactions after the fire, Derrell Peel says the type and duration of price behavior are exactly what is predicted by market economics.

It is disconcerting to watch as a few become disruptive at a time when the beef industry is realizing very positive progress in moving to satisfy the most important aspect of any business – the customer.

Our view or definition of traceability and the process involved shapes our perspective of the premium and implementation cost.

At a rally of cattlemen raising their voices against low cattle prices and excessive profits by beef packers, the biggest cheers came when it was suggested President Donald Trump fire Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue.

Tom Jones and his Hy-Plains Feedyard team keep feeding, learning and showing the way to better.

With seven weeks passed since the fire at Tyson's Finney County, Kan. plant, the impacts and resulting ripple effects are clearer now and are fading as expected. 

Both cash fed cattle and feeder cattle posted gains for the week ending Sept. 27, while wholesale beef prices saw significant declines.

Last week's $2 rally in cash cattle prices helped narrow the spread between feedyard losses and packer profits.

The Norm Timmerman family received the 2019 Feedyard Commitment to Excellence Award from the Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand.

The numbers won’t be final until September closes, but the “insider” forecast suggests a 3.9% total increase in sales tonnage for CAB in fiscal 2019.

The August fire at Tyson's Finney County, Kan., beef facility too 6% of slaughter capacity offline and forced packers to scramble to pick up the slack at other harvest locations.

The September Cattle on Feed report highlights some regional differences in the current feedlot situation among the four largest feeding states.

All cattle feeding areas were able to take advantage of the packer’s need for cattle last week and cash prices moved higher.

Stocker and feeder cattle prices were $2 to $7 higher at auction across the nation. Abundant forage conditions has left ranchers in no hurry to sell cattle.

Beef production will increase this year, and that remains a key driver for the price of fed cattle.

U.S. cattle on feed Sept. 1, 2019, were estimated at 11.0 million head, down 1% from a year ago, USDA reports.

Losses continued to grow for feedyards and the spread between feeder losses and packer profits only widened with a $1.50 per cwt. decline in cash cattle prices last week.

Citing growing frustration with low cattle prices while beef packers reap large profits, a grassroots campaign was launched this week seeking the support of President Donald Trump.

The $1 threshold seemed to be a sticking point for cattle feeders last week, and many held firm on Friday which could prove to give cash prices a needed boost.

The rapid growth in Chinese beef imports has dramatically altered global beef flows with several countries now exporting a significant share of total exports to China.

A fire Friday afternoon at Cargill's Doge City, Kan., facility was quickly extinguished and damage to the plant was minimal and no impact on operations is expected.

Cattle markets continued under pressure in the first full week of trading following the Labor Day holiday.

Omaha-based Green Plains Inc, announced it has completed the sale of 50% of Green Plains Cattle Company LLC for $77 million.

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.

Beef packer continued with a stranglehold on cattle markets last week, buying a few cattle to fill their needs at lower money and keeping operating margins historically high.

"Economic and political order has become disorder," Dan Basse, president of AgResource told attendees at the recent Feeding Quality Forum during his keynote address.

The lack of aggressive trade was noticed mostly in the south where cash trade could not get any higher than $1.00 last week.

Cash fed cattle continued a downward spiral driven by losses in CME Live cattle futures. Tyson announced its Kansas beef plant won't be fully operational until January.

The cattle industry needs to make some bold, creative changes to ensure its viability, according to speakers at the Feeding Quality Forum held in Amarillo, Texas.

The new frontier in nutrition research is the rumen microbe population, and new management practices have been shown to improve rumen health.

Beef packers continued to maintain their leverage on cattle markets heading into the holiday-shortened first week of September.

USCA calls on the USDA and the CFTC to “convene cattle market participants to discuss concerns related to price transparency and true price discovery.”

If anything good comes from the Tyson fire, maybe it will be that everyone will realize the burden of our over-committed fed cattle supply.

When loading and unloading cattle, the choice of "movement assistance device" may affect the loading outcome as well as the end product.

Cash fed cattle traded at lower prices ahead of the Labor Day weekend, while steer and heifer calves sold steady to higher at auctions.

Brazil’s agriculture minister says Indonesia has authorized beef exports from 10 Brazilian meat packing plants.

Citing heightened concerns about environmental preservation and sustainable beef production, JBS SA is using satellite technology to monitor suppliers.

The cash market for fed cattle last week gave some relief to feeders and overall market sentiment in the wake of the prior week’s $5/cwt. decline.

U.S. Ag Secretary Sonny Purdue has directed USDA’s Packers and Stockyards Division to launch an investigation into recent beef pricing activity.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announces up to $10 million in funds is available, with a proposal deadline of Oct. 25, 2019.

Cattle feeding margins slipped further into the red last week on soft cash prices, while packer margins climbed to extreme heights.

Poor performance from CME futures on Friday limited what cattle feeders could gain back on the cash market from the declines over the last few weeks.

U.S. cattle on feed totaled 11.1 million head in USDA’s August 1 inventory, which was slightly higher than the same period a year ago.

While the fire was unfortunate, the industry suffered more from an over-reaction by cattle markets in the week immediately following the fire.

Once a stockman is hired and gets good at their job, it’s hard to keep them because of the low pay and long workdays. For every rural stock person available, there are two job openings.

This year's weather extremes will play a role in the success of calf marketing programs.

In a letter to CFTC Chairman Heath Tarbert, NCBA asked the agency to keep an “even closer eye on the cattle markets" following the fire that forced closure of Tyson's beef plant in western Kansas.

As expected, beef packer margins jumped wildly higher the week ending Aug. 17, while cattle feeding margins slipped into the red.