Cash and futures fed cattle prices just might be putting in a summer low, but it would take a look at the futures market to tell. Cash fed cattle prices this week traded about $3 per cwt below last week, setting a low for the year at $117-ish. For the last 1 ½ months, the … Read More
Feeders Urged To Continue Aggressive Cattle Sales
US cattle feeders must continue to market fed cattle to packers aggressively or they risk having to deal with too many cattle that weigh too much. The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service last week issued its monthly Cattle on Feed report, which showed feedlot placements of calves in June at 1.770 million head, about 16% … Read More
USDA Begins Enhanced Cattle Market Reporting
The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service this week began enhancing its livestock mandatory reporting for cattle by publishing a new Weekly Fed Cattle Comprehensive Report and revising the National Weekly Direct Slaughter Cattle report. The cattle industry has seen a significant shift from traditional negotiated transactions to alternative marketing arrangements like formula pricing over the past … Read More
Frozen Red Meat Supplies Fall
Total red meat supplies in US freezers on June 30 were down 3% from the previous month and down 7% from last year, which could lend support to cattle and hog futures on Tuesday. The USDA revealed the storage levels in its monthly Cold Storage report Monday. Total pounds of beef in cold storage were … Read More
Cattle Numbers Up From 2015
All cattle and calves in the US as of July 1 totaled 102.6 million head, up 4.4 million, or 4.48%, from 98.2 million on July 1, 2015. Comparisons to July 1, 2016, are not available because budget constraints then kept the USDA from publishing a mid-year cattle inventory report. And, market analysts declined efforts by … Read More
Retail Beef Prices Rising
Monthly retail all-beef prices are on the rise, separating themselves farther from pork and chicken prices, showing that consumers are willing to pay more for the product. The long-term trend also shows a continuing increase in average retail beef prices in comparison with what consumers pay for pork or chicken. For June, the average all … Read More
Calf Prices Falling Short Of Average
Steer calf prices are not measuring up, and since early May have declined along the path carved out by last year’s price plunge. Average weekly prices paid for 400- to 500-pound, medium and large, No. 1 steers in the Southern Plains have held below the 2011-2015 average all year and now appear to be on … Read More