More cows were culled in July than in recent years, according to data from the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, and prices took a hit.
The Livestock Marketing Information Center reported that nearly all carcass grades of premium white, breaker, boner and cutter showed larger volumes when compared against July 2017. Nationally the exception was premium white carcasses, which were down 19%.
Premium white cull cow carcasses are fairly uncommon, said an article in Hereford World. They come from fairly young cull cows and have more white fat than the average cull cow. This white fat shows these animals were on a high-grain diet for a significant period of time prior to slaughter.
Breakers showed the largest cull cow slaughter volume in July, up 57% from last year, the LMIC said. This was followed by boners, which were up 19%, and cutters with a gain of 15%.
Carcasses weighing less than 500 pounds were more mixed, the LMIC said. Cutters had the higher volumes, up 37% in those weighing 400 to 500 pounds, and those carcasses weighing less than 400 pounds were up 45% from July 2017.
Breakers weighing less than 500 pounds were up 25%, and boners were down 58%, compared with a year ago.
The Hereford World said the classes correspond to a cow’s relative fatness, with breakers being the fatter cows, those with an estimated yield of 75% to 80% lean. These may be processed into various retail cuts.
Cull cow carcasses estimated to yield 80% to 85% lean are classified as boning cows and normally are boned for manufacturing beef after removing a few merchandisable cuts. These are the average cull cow.
Boner carcasses yield about 85% to 90% lean, and the majority of the meat will go into manufacturing beef.
PRICES MOSTLY WEAKER
July cull cow volumes took a toll on prices of the lighter carcasses and across all carcass grades, the LMIC said. And the higher volumes of cull cows continue to pressure prices into August.
Those weighing more than 500 pounds faced 10% lower prices, compared with a year earlier, while breakers, boners and cutters weighing more than 500 pounds averaged about the same in July at about $122 per cwt.
Premium whites were higher, averaging $129 per cwt, the LMIC said.
Lighter carcasses (those weighing less than 500 pounds, were struck with even steeper price declines, the LMIC said. They fell by more than 13%, compared with a year earlier, with 400- to 500-pound cutters bringing the best price nationally of $118 in July.
In general, cull cow prices declined more in July than the decline in the boxed beef market, the LMIC said. And with cutouts still falling, and early weaning taking place, there likely will be more downside risk to cow prices.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
No fed cattle sold Wednesday on the Livestock Exchange Video Auction, compared with 280 that traded the previous Wednesday at $109.50 per cwt.
Cash cattle traded Wednesday at $107 to $108 per cwt, down $1 to $2 from last week. On a dressed basis, cattle sold at $168 to $169, down $3 to $4.
The USDA choice cutout Wednesday was up $0.28 per cwt at $212.68, while select was off $0.73 at $203.55. The choice/select spread widened to $9.13 from $8.12 with 94 loads of fabricated product sold into the spot market.
The CME Feeder Cattle index for the seven days ended Tuesday, was $150.23 per cwt, down $0.37. This compares with Wednesday’s Aug settlement of $149.32, down $0.02 and the Sep settlement of $149.17, down $0.35.