Packer
Packer market participation wasn’t as robust as it had been in earlier weeks, and packers have slowly added to their inventory ahead of the holidays.
Cash fed cattle prices traded higher in all regions for the third consecutive week, marking a 16% gain since the lows were set in September.
Tyson Fresh Meats said early Monday the construction and repairs to its Finney County beef complex are nearing completion.
Jeffries Financial Group announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its remaining 31% interest in National Beef to Marfrig Global Foods SA.
Strong wholesale beef prices keep packer margins solidly profitable and encourage packers to be aggressive participants.
Packers were still hunting front end cattle late last Friday, knowing that feeders would have their sights set on a higher December board for the trade this week.
Boxed beef prices increased about ten percent over the month of October into early November, a significantly higher increase than the normal seasonal bump.
America’s four largest beef packers face another lawsuit claiming antitrust violations since 2015, this one filed by a California distributor seeking treble damages.
Proposed legislation claims the lack of a federal definition of beef or beef products has created “opportunity for marketplace confusion and consumer fraud,” say the bill’s authors.
Friday’s USDA cattle on feed report pegged heifer numbers at 39.1 of feedlot inventories, the highest percentage in more than 18 years, and year-to-date heifer slaughter is up more than 7%.
Beef packers continued to show signs that they still need cattle to meet the demand of their customers and paid higher prices last week.
The Beef Industry Long Range Plan is updated every five years to identify key areas to advance beef demand and help the industry focus on one strategic direction.
Cash cattle markets backed up last week from a steady upward movement due to a boiler explosion, and the three days of unexpected downtime at Cargill’s Dodge City plant.
Following an explosion Oct. 17, Cargill says it is sending live cattle to other facilities but expects its Dodge City cattle receiving operations to resume early next week.
Cargill’s Dodge City, Kan., beef processing facility was back online Monday morning after an explosion on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019.
Cattle feeders continue to take advantage of the advancing cash market, with higher sales in all regions last week.
Cargill says it closed its Dodge City beef packing and processing facility on Thursday after an explosion injured two employees.
Citing concerns about foreign ownership of U.S. companies, two U.S. senators have asked Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to open a formal investigation of JBS SA.
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.
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.
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.
All cattle feeding areas were able to take advantage of the packer’s need for cattle last week and cash prices moved higher.
Beef production will increase this year, and that remains a key driver for the price of fed cattle.
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.
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.
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 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 traded at lower prices ahead of the Labor Day weekend, while steer and heifer calves sold steady to higher at auctions.
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.
USCA calls on the USDA and the CFTC to “convene cattle market participants to discuss concerns related to price transparency and true price discovery.”