Fed Cattle
Cattle supplies are on the rise with more cattle being placed in feedlots leading to some discrepancies in the futures and cash market.
The Cattle on Feed report has been on a continual increasing trend since December 2016 and the current April inventory is the highest for the month in 12 years.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says supply and demand factors led to the dramatic cattle price decline from 2013 to 2016.
The addition of the two Cattle Empire yards boosts Friona Industries to the nation’s second-largest cattle feeding entity.
USDA’s July 2018 cattle on feed estimate was the largest July 1 inventory since the series began in 1996.
Currently in the yards, it feels that packers are still playing the need for inventory, week to week.
The June Cattle on Feed reached its highest recorded inventory since the series started in 1996 and continues 18 months of increasing inventories.
The cattle herd in Canada fell by 100,000 head with beef cows seeing the largest drop in herd numbers.
Cattle on Feed reaches nearly 11.1 million head, the highest mark reached for August since USDA began the series in 1996.
Kansas pilot project aims at improving cattle traceability.
Cow-calf producers have a number of factors to consider when weighing the decision of retained ownership.
Finding a feedlot partner helps ranchers share information and profits
Despite cattle prices being lower than year-ago levels, of the major livestock markets beef has weathered the storm better than poultry or pork.
Stuck in neutral for six weeks, cash fed cattle prices broke through the ice with a solid rally. Calf prices were uneven.
For the fifth straight month a record for Cattle on Feed was eclipsed after an increase of 5.2% since Oct. 1, 2017.
It appears that herd expansion has slowed down as beef production forecasts have been lowered by analysts at USDA.
Demand remains strong for feeder cattle with auction prices steady to $2 higher.
The September record for cattle on feed was set after increasing 5.6% year-over-year and reaching more than 11.1 million head. This is the fourth month straight a monthly record has been set.
In November, U.S. feedlots set a record for 1.87 million head marketed, the highest Dec. 1 total since the series began recording in 1996.
After a software error caused beef carcasses to be inaccurately reported for grades and weights, JBS is a paying a fine and reimbursing producers who were impacted.
Following the trend seen in fed cattle during the past few months, a market analyst expects limited volatility during the 1st quarter of 2019.
Cattle markets have been keeping pace in early 2019 compared to the same first quarter period in 2017 and 2018.
The beef cattle trade has been highlighting this winter’s weather market for several weeks now, but the impact from last week’s bomb cyclone the cattle feeding belt has escalated problems for cattle performance.
Following the shutdown, fundamental information is slowly returning to normal. The February Cattle on Feed report was released last Friday, with the March report scheduled for its normal date of March 22.
The sale of Kane Beef is scheduled to close Feb. 22, 2019, and operations are expected to resume “as soon as practical,” the new owner says.
Every cowboy from Ames to Amarillo was convinced the cattle market is headed higher, but packers held out on raising bids until late Friday.
Cattle on Feed estimates for April 1, 2019, were 2% higher than the same month a year ago.
Weather continues to have an influence on the cattle market as adverse weather like the most recent “bomb cyclone” to hit the Midwest slow the rate that fed cattle are finished.
Heading into the start of summer grilling season cattle markets appear to be on the same trendline as 2018.
The share of Prime carcasses has more than doubled in the past 5 years, spelling greater availability and consequential wider usage among end users.