Download PDF The cash cattle market broke out of its trading range to the upside this week, with live trade in the South reported at $182-183/cwt., which was up $2-3/cwt. from last week. In the North, trade was mostly $1-2 higher at $184-185/cwt. The price spread between the North and South continues to narrow. What …
Download PDF Last week’s short kill seemed to stabilize the cutouts, with the Choice only down $1.56/cwt to average $313.40 and the Select down $2.83 to average $287.34. The average cash cattle price appears as though it will be similar to last week’s $182.50, as packers were able to get cattle bought steady to a …
Download PDF The beef cutouts eased a little bit this week, with the Choice down $2.08 to average $314.96/cwt. and the Select off $0.43 to average $290.17/cwt. That marks the first softening of the cutouts in four weeks and may signal that the restricted kill strategy packers’ have been employing is unable to lift beef …
Download PDF It was another good week for the beef cutouts, with the Choice gaining $6.64/cwt. on a weekly average basis and the Select adding $6.03/cwt. That helped packer margins considerably and, on top of that, packers managed to buy cattle at an average price that was about $2 below last week’s average. Trade in …
Download PDF Packers’ efforts to improve their margins by cutting back on the kill finally started to pay dividends this week. That tightened up beef availability enough so that, when combined with a boost in demand ahead of Labor Day, the Choice cutout was able to add $8/cwt. to average $310.40 for the week and …
Download PDF The beef cutouts eased a little lower this week, with the Choice losing $0.56/cwt. to average $302.41 on the week and the Select dropped $1.05/cwt to average $276.87. For about a month now, the Choice cutout has been stuck between $300 and $305 and the Select cutout has held mostly in the $275-280 …
Download PDF The decline in the beef market slowed this week, with the Choice cutout only averaging $0.75/cwt lower and the Select cutout gaining $2.38/cwt. If we look at the blended cutout, it was only down $0.14/cwt to average $298.36/cwt. Of course, the question on everyone’s mind is whether or not this is as low …
Download PDF Cash cattle prices continued to advance this week, with trade in the north occurring at mostly $188 live and $295 dressed, up $2 live and up $5 dressed from the week before. In the South, trade waited until late in the week and most transactions were near $180/cwt., unchanged to $1 higher than …
Download PDF It was more of the same in the cattle and beef complex this week, with the cutouts moving lower at a rapid pace, but the cash cattle market stubbornly refusing to give much ground. Through Thursday, the Choice cutout was down $11.02/cwt and the Select was $9.69/cwt lower. The tug-o-war between packers and …
Download PDF The beef market continued lower this week, with the Choice cutout dropping $7.22/cwt. on a weekly average basis and the Select cutout losing $6.47/cwt. All of the primals were down to some degree, but the middle meats, and particularly the ribs, were the biggest losers. As they watched the beef market unravel, packers …