Check out the Beef Profit Tracker for week of April 19.
The fed cattle market was sharply higher last week with a $4.29/cwt. upward move.
Brad Kooima, Kooima Kooima Varilek, says grains lose early strength running into chart resistance. While cattle also started higher with the sharply higher cash trade Thursday but faded.
Scott Varilek, Kooima Kooima Varilek, says the slightly higher placements than expectations in the USDA Cattle on Feed Report are not a concern to him. He thinks cash is ultimately king!
Check out the Sterling Marketing Beef Profit Tracker ending April 12.
Brad Kooima, Kooima Kooima Varilek, says cattle are seeing followthrough buying and strength Monday morning as the S&P 500 continues to stabilize and recover after the tariff delays.
Embrace market volatility, and figure out how to use it to your advantage during this time of uncertainty, advises commodity broker Brad Kooima
Arlan Suderman, StoneX Chief Commodities Economist says the markets reacted positively to the 90-day delay on reciprocal tariffs for countries that reached out to negotiate with the U.S. and did not retaliate.
Check out Sterling Marketing’s Beef Profit Tracker for week ending April 5.
Check out the Sterling Marketing Beef Profit Tracker ending March 29.
Last week’s fed cattle trade was highlighted by sales late Friday that featured substantially higher prices as packer demand for spot market cattle pressed prices higher in all regions.
While tariffs are negative for grain and hog producers, tariffs on U.S. beef and cattle imports have a net effect of tightening supplies and that’s price positive.
Check out the Sterling Marketing’s Profit Tracker ending for week of March 14.
Feedlot margins jumped from $198 to $366. Choice steers were up slightly to $201.
Brad Kooima of Kooima Kooima Varilek says live cattle see buying interest after strong cash late last week. Corn tries to hold gains with soybeans seeing South American harvest pressure and concern about China’s 10% tariffs on U.S. soybeans.
Darren Frye, Water Street Solutions, says corn, wheat and hogs reacted negatively to the 25% tariffs being imposed on Canada and Mexico on March 4.
In the last two weeks the average weekly fed cattle harvest total has been 480,000 head, a total reduction of 30,000 head (-3%) over the two-week span compared to a year ago.
CattleFax released its annual price projections at CattleCon and expects cattle prices to stay strong for a while.
USDA’s latest Cattle Inventory report showed U.S. beef cattle numbers fell to the lowest level in 64 years to start the year. Tight supplies and strong demand could push cattle prices to even higher highs in 2025, but uncertainty is infusing more risk and volatility into the markets.
With the prospects for tight cattle numbers over the next 2 to 3 years, the importance of consumer demand will be critical.
Kevin Good, Vice President of Industry Relations and Analysis with CattleFax, says the herd is still shrinking and so are slaughter levels and that will mean more record prices in 2025.
USDA’s annual Cattle Inventory Report released Friday shows the U.S. total cattle inventory shrunk another 1% over the past year, with the number of beef cows also down 1%.
Last year’s USDA Cattle Inventory Report showed the smallest cattle herd since 1951. With strong heifer prices and no strong signs of rebuilding underway, the Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor shows supplies may come in even lower than last year.
Live Cattle and Feeder Cattle futures prices have been forced higher as Live Cattle contracts had been lagging negotiated values until recent days.
With no post-holiday wavering, all cattle and beef markets moved higher in the first half of January – setting new record price levels to start the new year.
Cash cattle averaged $204.12 per cwt., up from last week, while lean carcass hog prices came in at $81.79 per cwt.
Now in mid-January, the cattle markets are showing exceptional optimism. Packers were actively bidding to capture spot market needs.
Tight cattle supplies will remain the primary driver in the new year and weather will have a significant impact on feed and forage availability, and cattle marketing patterns.
Brad Kooima of Kooima Kooima Varilek in Sioux Center, Iowa, says cash fed cattle trade hit record highs last week and could be steady to even a bit higher again this week. Historically tight supplies continue to support the rally.
Cow-calf returns vary significantly across producers due to widely variable costs of production, but strong market signals for cow-calf producers to expand the beef cow herd.