If inflation really is hurting consumers, beef markets don’t seem to show it. Wholesale prices are holding strong at higher levels than the 2017-2021 average, although many cuts are running at levels that are lower than a year ago at the same time.   PRODUCTION IS AN ISSUE   In US meat markets, production often … Read More

After three years of dry weather, which challenged the Argentine beef cattle industry, the USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service estimated this week that Argentine cattle slaughter and beef production will drop in 2023, in line with official USDA estimates. The word came in a semi-annual report from the FAS office in Buenos Aires. Argentina is important … Read More

Kansas feedlots sold fewer slaughter-ready cattle to beef packers in January than in either last year or the 2017-2021 average, according to data collected by the Kansas State University Extension service. The K-State Extension service surveys select feedlots around the state for key statistics on the cattle they sold for slaughter in a given month.  … Read More

Canada’s March 1 cattle on feed numbers declined from a month earlier and remain locked between last year and the 2017-2021 average, according to CanFax. CanFax is a private market advisory group that collects the on-feed data from member feedlots in Alberta and Saskatchewan.  Most of the results are shared only with members, but CanFax … Read More

For the first time in several years it appears that all segments of cattle and beef markets are on the same page and responding to tightening supply fundamentals, said Oklahoma State University Agricultural Economist Derrell Peel, in a letter to Extension agents called Cow-Calf Corner. The complex linkages across cattle and beef markets mean market-adjustment … Read More

Overall US economic activity increased slightly in early 2023, said the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book Tuesday. The Beige Book is a Federal Reserve System publication about current economic conditions across the 12 Federal Reserve Districts.  It characterizes regional economic conditions and prospects based on mostly qualitative information from each district.  It is published eight times … Read More

The USDA’s monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report Wednesday raised its 2023 beef production forecast from last month while lowering its pork production estimate. The USDA also adjusted 2022 red meat and poultry supply and use estimates to reflect revisions to slaughter and production data.   BEEF PRODUCTION ESTIMATE RAISED   For 2023, … Read More