Download PDF Wholesale beef prices continued to claw higher this week, with the Choice cutout adding $2.32 to average $323.71 for the week and the Select cutout gaining $0.02 to average $303.98. Volumes transacted in the negotiated market were down considerably from the week before, so gain in prices may be more a function of …
Download PDF Last week cash cattle prices in the North exploded higher and this week it was the South’s turn to experience sharply higher prices. Trade happened late on Friday in both regions, but it looks like the bulk of the Southern trade happened at $189-190, up $3-4 over last week. In the North, live …
Download PDF The cash cattle market in the North caught fire this week, with live trades reported in the $195-196 range, which is up $5-6 from last week’s trade in that region. The price advance was more muted in the South, where the majority of trades occurred at $186, up $1 from the week before. …
Download PDF The beef markets were able to add to last week’s gains, with the Choice cutout up $2.80 to average $316.05 and the Select cutout down $0.33 to average $302.21. Sure, this week’s gains were small, but they helped mitigate the fears that beef demand would come tumbling down after the Memorial Day holiday. …
Download PDF The cattle market took a turn lower this week as trade in the South was established at $186, down $1 from last week and live trade in the North was close to $190, which was down $2-3 from the week before. That should put the five-area average at close to $188 for the …
Download PDF The beef market managed to stay on its upward trajectory for the second week in a row, with the Choice cutout gaining $4.89/cwt. on a weekly average basis and the Select cutout adding $6.48/cwt. The cattle market also posted gains as trade in the South was mostly $1 higher at $187 while the …
Download PDF This week’s theme in the cattle and beef complex was “better late than never”, as the cutouts rocketed higher just two weeks before the Memorial Day holiday. There was speculation that the buying was driven by packers’ announcing their intention to limit this week’s kill and that caused beef buyers to quickly jump …
Download PDF The beef cutouts finally got a little lift this week, with the Choice adding $2.27/cwt. to average $296.78 and the Select losing $0.72/cwt. to average $288.05. The gains were driven mostly by increases in the rib and loin primals, with all of the other primals either slightly lower or nearly unchanged on the …
Download PDF The avian influenza story reared its head again this week as government officials announced they would be testing for traces of the virus in ground beef. That sent the futures sharply lower as traders assumed that, similar to milk, fragments of the virus would be found in beef. Then on Thursday, it was …
Download PDF Traders bought the futures aggressively on Monday following the COF report and that seemed to set the tone for a solidly higher cash cattle market this week. On Wednesday, there was news that DNA of the avian influenza virus had been detected in pasteurized milk and that caused some selling in cattle futures, …