At this point in the year and the phased schedule of crossing reopenings, US imports of Mexican cattle may not catch up with normal.
The USDA said the first border points open to livestock imports are the ones farthest away from southern Mexico and, therefore, the least likely to bring in the unwanted New World Screwworm.
FLY CONTROL PROGRESS MADE
Progress has been made in containing the spread of NWS in Mexico, said Oklahoma State University Livestock Marketing Specialist Derrell Peel, in a newsletter. The USDA’s plan calls for sequentially reopening ports in New Mexico and Texas between July and September, assuming continued progress in NWS containment and control in Mexico.
FIRST TO LAST
The first port, Douglas, AZ, opened, July 7, Peel said. In 2023, the most recent complete year of border cattle trade with Mexico, the Douglas port was the second largest port in volume of cattle crossed, accounting for just under 15% of the total.
Nogales, AZ, the second largest cattle port in 2023, is not scheduled for reopening, he said.
Arizona ports accounted for 27.5% of total imports of Mexican cattle in 2023, Peel said.
The Columbus, NM, port is scheduled to reopen July 14, he said. Columbus was the fourth largest volume port in 2023, with just under 11% of total annual imports, Peel said.
Santa Teresa, NM, just west of El Paso, Texas, is the largest port for cattle imports, accounting for about 43% of the 2023 total, he said. The port is scheduled to reopen July 21.
New Mexico ports represented 53.4% of Mexican cattle imports in 2023.
Del Rio, Texas, is scheduled to reopen Aug. 18, he said. Del Rio accounted for less than 2% of total cattle imports from Mexico in 2023.
Laredo, Texas, is slated to open Sep. 15, Peel said. The port accounted for just over 1% of cattle imports in 2023.
Texas ports accounted for just over 19% of cattle imports in 2023, including Presidio, Texas, which represented nearly 8% of total imports and is not currently on the list of ports scheduled to reopen.
From early February to May 11, 224,834 Mexican cattle crossed the border, Peel said. The current list of ports scheduled to reopen accounted for roughly 71% of total imports in 2023.
Given the remaining weeks of the year and the likelihood that ports will not jump to historic capacity immediately, total possible imports for the year are likely to be reduced for the year, he said, maybe in the range of 400 to 700,000 head, depending on how smoothly the reopening process proceeds.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers this week ranged from $224.82 per cwt to $233.02, compared with last week’s range of $225.63 to $236.67 per cwt. FOB dressed steers, and heifers went for $355.17 per cwt to $365.41, compared with $353.56 to $365.67.
The USDA choice cutout Wednesday was down $6.59 per cwt at $386.45 while select was off $5.19 at $373.27. The choice/select spread narrowed to $13.18 from $14.58 with 132 loads of fabricated product and 11 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA-listed the weighted average wholesale price for fresh 90% lean beef was $411.10 per cwt, and 50% beef was $260.98.
The USDA said basis bids for corn from feeders in the Southern Plains were unchanged at $1.30 to $1.45 a bushel over the Sep corn contract, which settled at $3.99 1/4, up $0.01 1/4.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Tuesday was $316.76 per cwt, up $5.36. This compares with Wednesday’s Aug contract settlement of $320.47, up $1.35.