Mackey: Packers Show Discipline, North/South Spread Widens
Packers and feedlots conducted business on Wednesday of last week. Kansas/Texas saw trade conclude at $1 cwt. lower, with $163 trading the volume.
Meanwhile, the North traded dressed cattle at $265 per cwt. with a few outside trades at $268, call the volume $1 higher than the previous week. The live trade pushed into the $165 mark, call the volume at $164 or steady with the previous week. Cash trades totaled 82,943, which is 10,415 head more than a week ago.
Packers continue to try and build their inventory and show great discipline not harvesting themselves out of position. After Saturday was added in, harvest came in at 626,000 head, 5,000 under last week and 31,000 smaller than a year ago.
Looking ahead, the spread between the North and South should grow wider. As the week progressed there were reports of Southern cattle being hauled to Northern packing houses to supplement the kill. When packers put wheels under cattle to buy themselves time, the market generally responds. Cattle feeders in the North should look to capitalize with tighter supplies and multiple bidders.
A native of Torrington, WY, Brodie Mackey joined Consolidated Beef Producers in the spring of 2013 after earning his B.S. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Brodie’s focus at CBP includes customer development, cattle marketing and evaluation in Nebraska, Northeast Colorado, South Dakota and Wyoming. For more about Consolidated Beef Producers visit here.
