With the number of cattle being slaughtered down, the profit challenges for beef packers increase, but it’s not impossible to get earnings reports into the black, at least sometimes. Packing plants are the most profitable when running at full capacity, and many are designed to operate on thin margins even then.  Beef prices are up, … Read More

Weekly boxed beef cutout values for choice 600- to 900-pound carcasses appear to have peaked seasonally and will likely decline into the first week of October. Bookings for holiday-related cuts may advance prices from early October into mid-December, but there is a limit to how far demand for rib roasts and steaks can take the … Read More

The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service weekly crop report contains a chart that should never be overlooked, yet it is. The weekly pasture and range condition chart can show the condition of soils across the country at a glance since grasses tend to show the effects of dry or super-wet weather sooner than many other … Read More

Managed money liquidated long live cattle positions during the week ended Tuesday, keeping their overall position relatively flat over the last month, as the outlook for the cattle market grew more hazy. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in its weekly Commitments of Traders report that managed money, or large fund traders, had reduced their … Read More

Rising grain output, rising US cattle populations, struggling foreign currencies and declining populations in major consuming countries point to lower fed cattle prices in coming years, and traders appear to be adjusting. Thursday, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s live cattle futures market close revealed that traders have serious misgivings about cattle prices down the road.  The … Read More

Even though feeder cattle prices are softening as more calves come to the auction barns, it doesn’t mean prices will continue to soften.  It just means the markets will be more confusing. Fall cattle marketings began to rise a couple of months ago, easing the market into the September/October gut slot of the fall weaning … Read More

Annual US meat consumption is expected to rise this year in all major meat categories and then turn in a smaller increase next year through a combination of increased production and imports. Overall meat consumption was expected to rise 7.66 pounds, or 3.81%, to 208.63 pounds from 200.97 pounds.  In 2016, total per-capita meat consumption … Read More