Download PDF Cattle feeders were pretty quick to hit the bid this week, with sizable volume trading on Tuesday at $180/cwt. in the Southern Plains. Trade in the North followed on Wed/Thurs in the $183-184 range. Looking at average price levels, this week’s cash was $182.65, down about $2.30/cwt. from the prior week. That was …
Download PDF The beef market remained red hot this week, but the cattle market cooled a bit. Through Thursday, the Choice cutout had gained $14.65/cwt on a weekly average basis and the Select cutout had added $8.13/cwt. Near-term beef demand has been strong as buyers scrambled in response to recent price increases, but that short-term …
Download PDF The cash cattle market surged higher again this week, adding close to $7/cwt in the live market and $10/cwt in the dressed market. In the last three weeks, the cattle market has advanced almost $14/cwt. What is driving these rapid increases? An economist would say that demand for cattle is outpacing the supply …
Download PDF The cash cattle market caught fire again this week, with price levels in some instances surging $8-9/cwt. Trade in the North occurred in the $185-188/cwt range and in the South prices ranged from $175-180. Recall that last week’s southern trade averaged around $171. What caused packers to suddenly chase after cattle like there …
Download PDF This was a week where there were plenty of reasons why the cash cattle market should have traded lower. Packers were buying for a short kill the following week and they were going to have access to their June contract cattle in just a few days. Instead, cattle feeders surprised everyone by digging …
Download PDF Cattle feeders managed to squeeze a little more out of the packers this week as cash cattle averaged close to $174.85, up about $0.50/cwt. from last week’s average. That is the second week in a row that packers have been unable to pressure cattle prices even though cutout values have been falling. Jun …
Download PDF Beef packers pushed the kill harder than they should have this week, with the fed kill coming in at 503k. That is 13k over the top end of the range that our model says should be available during May and it very well could paint packers into a corner just like the large …
Download PDF The beef market stalled this week with the Choice cutout adding a mere $0.11/cwt. and the Select cutout up $0.15/cwt. Beef buyers aren’t happy about a Choice cutout over $309 and a Select cutout over $288, but their ability to resist strong beef prices is limited by continued small fed kills and low …
Download PDF The cash cattle market eased about a dollar lower this week to average close to $177.50. Prices in the South fell mostly in the $173-174 range while in the North $177-179 was common. Trade volume was comparable to the week before and probably adequate relative to the current kill level. Packers will have …
Download PDF Beef packers managed to barely keep their heads above water this week after a sharp increase in cash cattle prices the week before. Packer margins are estimated at $4/head, down from $34 the week before. In order to stay afloat, packers had to press hard on the beef market and they found some …