Beef Wrap

Beef Wrap January 12

Download PDF Weather was arguably the biggest factor to affect the cattle and beef complex this week.  Snowstorms rolled across the Plains, hindering movement of cattle to slaughter and forcing packers to cancel shifts at several plants.  That bout of snow will be followed this weekend by plunging temperatures as a polar vortex descends into …

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Beef Wrap January 5

Download PDF Cash cattle traded in North this week in the $174-175 range and while trade was a little slower to get started in the South, it looks like some trade late on Friday happened at a steady $173.  Thus, the weekly average should be around $174.30, up close to $2 from the week before.  …

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Beef Wrap December 22

Download PDF The beef markets were mixed this week, with the Choice cutout losing $1.57/cwt. on a weekly average basis while the Select cutout added $2.88.   Cash cattle traded a little higher, with the weekly average expected to be around $170.35.  That would be up $1.64 from last week’s average.  Beef prices are starting to …

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Beef Wrap December 15

Download PDF The cash cattle market traded lower again this week, with transactions in the Southern Plains at mostly $170, down $1 from the week before, while trades in the North were from $167-170, with more activity located at the lower end of that range.  For the week, it looks like the average 5-area live …

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Beef Wrap December 08

Download PDF It was another tough week in the cattle and beef markets.  The nearby Dec LC contract lost nearly $4/cwt., finishing up at $165.45.  On Thursday, it settled three dollars lower than that.  Why were traders so pessimistic?  Well, there wasn’t much good news in either the cash cattle market or the beef market.  …

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Beef Wrap December 01

Download PDF The rib primal finally came to life this week, jumping a little over $25/cwt. to average $573.27.  That isn’t too far off of the all-time record high at $609/cwt. set back in September of 2021.  This is a result of last-minute holiday buying and is carefully orchestrated by packers because they will be …

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Beef Wrap November 17

Download PDF Live cattle futures settled down this week following the rout that took place last week.  All contracts finished $1-2/cwt. higher than the week before.  Whether or not that was justified remains to be seen because both the cutout and cash cattle moved lower.  The Choice cutout dropped $4.46/cwt. to average $295.69 and the …

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Beef Wrap November 03

Download PDF Cash cattle trade was slow to develop this week and as of press time, packers and feeders in the Southern Plains remained in a standoff.  Some light trade did occur in the North, with reported prices at mostly $185, which was steady with the week before.  It was widely expected that cash trade …

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Beef Wrap October 27

Download PDF This week was highlighted by a massive selloff in cattle futures.  On Monday, the Dec LC contract fell below its 100-day moving average and that triggered a wave of selling that took most of the curve down $5-6/cwt.  The initial impetus for the selling was the previous Friday’s Cattle on Feed report which …

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