Feedyard
Negotiated cash cattle prices were $2 softer last week in a moderate to active trade. Friday’s Cattle on Feed report reported an inventory of 12.0 million head, up 2% from last year while a 1.3% decline was anticipated.
Trade across national boundaries is a positive-sum activity; both trading partners gain or it wouldn’t occur. Any sort of intervention disrupts that premise and artificially establishes a system of winners and losers.
The Startup Challenge for 2022 specifically seeks innovation and technologies that can help cattle feeders enhance sustainability in feedyard operations and meet industry sustainability goals.
The upcoming PAC Summit for Industry Leaders focuses on leveraging new technology to ease labor constraints, provide opportunities for increased profitability, and improve connections between animals and caregivers.
Every re-treatment puts additional stress on calves and reduces profit due to additional medicine and labor. But waiting too long to re-treat calves that need an additional dose can increase the number of sick calves.
Concerned about consolidation of the feeding industry, R-CALF has asked the FTC and DOJ to investigate the degree of buyer power beef packers exercise over feedlots – in particular, the 77 largest feedlots.
Midwest PMS will host two workshop training events for feedyard managers and employees to build their operational knowledge and hone their leadership skills.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will host a cattle industry listening session to inform the development of a Cattle Contracts Library Pilot Program on Thursday, April 21.
Merck Animal Health has introduced two new tools to bring important cattle health information to cattle producers’ fingertips.
The coming weeks should fuel interest in high-quality beef cuts for grilling. As the share of harvest-ready calf-feds grows in the fed cattle supply, we anticipate seasonally lower quality grade trends.
Global beef production is projected to expand in 2022 with increased production in Brazil, China, India, Australia and Mexico offsetting decreased production in the U.S., Canada, the European Union (E.U.) and Argentina.
Checkoff-funded research has helped manage food safety risks over the past decades, influencing many safety interventions that are still in place today.
Senators renewed their call for mandatory minimum cash trades for the purchase of fed cattle as they unveiled a revised Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act, and suggested Senate will hold hearings soon.
As the spring thaw in eastern North Dakota continues at a rapid rate, inspecting the dirty-water containment ponds and manure stacking areas daily is an important practice for livestock owners.
Maps show the severity of drought in eight Central Plains states and where they began 2022 in beef cow numbers. These eight states represent 52% of America’s beef cows, and accounted for 67% of last year’s herd culling.
The month of March will continue to bring more cooler cleanings on the packer’s part. This will continue to keep the number of cattle needed by the packer to minimum.
Inflation has hit consumers hard and drawn the attention of the national media. With increasing media attention on climate change, do activists see inflation as a way to encourage Americans to reduce beef consumption?
Speculators in the futures markets have a negative portrayal. But opposite sides of the market work in lock-step with one another - producers can’t hedge price risk without speculators on the other side.
Tyson “Demo Day” will be held virtually on July 11, 2022, with participants invited to demonstrate how their solutions could help create a more sustainable food system.
Beef demand has been strong up to this point but clearly there are more concerns about demand and input prices going forward. There is little choice but to stay tuned and try to remain as flexible as possible.
Cash fed cattle prices came under pressure last week as packer needs were lighter than in recent weeks. Wholesale beef prices have declined resulting in lower margins for processors.
Quality grades set record highs for combined Choice and Prime carcasses during the first five weeks of 2022, slightly higher than last year. Prime grades are down marginally from year-ago at 10% vs. 10.8% last year.
Friday’s Cattle on Feed was not expected to create any additional near-term market volatility. Yet, a closer analysis finds heavy front-end numbers along with signals the feeder cattle supply is tightening.
The Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) has released its official 2021 Annual Report including information about projects and results within each of the organization’s program areas.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict produced another set-back for fed cattle last week. The industry is hoping this week will bring less volatility in the markets.
Cash cattle saw average prices move slightly higher for the week while CME futures tumbled lower. USDA’s reported cattle on feed February 1 inventory was the highest for that month in the series going back to 1996.
The strong volumes of fed slaughter suggest the large number of long-fed cattle are being worked through. Tightening supplies are being revealed and demand in the beef market is nothing short of incredible.
The increased use of alternative marketing arrangements has allowed feedlots to spend less effort and energy on guessing the market – and more work dedicated to consistent throughput, Nevil Speer says.
The world’s largest cattle feeder, Five Rivers Cattle Feeding recognizes the importance of being a leader and an advocate for the beef industry – Kuner Feedlot wins 2022 BQA Feedyard Award.
Cattle feeders saw active participation from all packers last week which helped push prices higher for a fourth consecutive week. Prices in the North remain at a premium.