Sid Miller, commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture, says the risk of highly pathogenic avian influenza impacting beef cattle in the state's panhandle – where dairy cows have been infected – is minimal.
Higher cattle prices have calmed much of the producer angst about the market not working. Now seems like a good time to analyze how we think about factors that drive prices.
The area was hit especially hard by historic rains on Friday. It is home to several feedyards, with owners and operators trying to assess the number of cows lost due to flood waters rising so quickly.
With cattle feeders in the driver's seat, packers will seek leverage to price cattle for future delivery. They aren't looking to do feeders a favor with the strategy.
Oklahoma State University meat scientist Gretchen Mafi has studied the scientific differences between beef that comes from animals finished on a grain diet versus those animals finished on grass.
Real-world data confirms cattlemen are rewarded for high-quality carcasses through grid pricing. Why, then, would/should the industry regress back to selling more cattle on a cash basis?
Cash cattle markets traded modestly lower in another week of lackluster activity. Northern regions experienced adverse weather conditions added stress to cattle and reduced weights.
Cattle feeders refused some early bids last week and were rewarded with higher prices in all areas, resulting in another opportunity to clean up show lists.
Cash cattle trade was called active with packers seeking to add inventory. Retailer buying was also active as they anticipate a seasonal slowdown in supplies.
The Justice Department says it has filed a memo in federal court with its recommended sentence for Washington rancher and cattle feeder Cody Easterday who pleaded guilty in a $244 million "ghost cattle" scheme.
Sudden deaths late in the feeding phase are both frustrating and expensive. Simplot Land & Livestock says its research suggests genetic selection can greatly reduce the incidence of bovine congestive heart failure.
Drought impacts have accelerated sharply in the southern plains in July, with the volume of feeder cattle in Oklahoma auctions up 24% the last two weeks and the volume of cows and bulls up nearly 124%.
USDA's mid-year inventory is the smallest since 2015 with beef cow herd down 2.4%. Cattle on feed inventories unchanged from last year at 13.4 million.
Feedyards battled through the intense conditions to keep their cattle safe this week.
The heat and humidity proved devastating, and estimates point to western Kansas feedlots seeing losses of 100 to 500 head per day.
Monday morning packers are convinced the solution to low cattle prices is more carcass hooks. Reality, however, suggests proposed new packing plants are out of step with cattle inventories and available labor.
Plenty of folks are scared of the chickenization scenario, in which first come formulas, then come production contracts, then come “no other options.” Which sounds pretty awful. Is it?
Trade across national boundaries is a positive-sum activity; both trading partners gain or it wouldn’t occur. Any sort of intervention disrupts that premise and artificially establishes a system of winners and losers.
Concerned about consolidation of the feeding industry, R-CALF has asked the FTC and DOJ to investigate the degree of buyer power beef packers exercise over feedlots – in particular, the 77 largest feedlots.
USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will host a cattle industry listening session to inform the development of a Cattle Contracts Library Pilot Program on Thursday, April 21.
Senators renewed their call for mandatory minimum cash trades for the purchase of fed cattle as they unveiled a revised Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act, and suggested Senate will hold hearings soon.
Maps show the severity of drought in eight Central Plains states and where they began 2022 in beef cow numbers. These eight states represent 52% of America's beef cows, and accounted for 67% of last year's herd culling.
Friday's Cattle on Feed was not expected to create any additional near-term market volatility. Yet, a closer analysis finds heavy front-end numbers along with signals the feeder cattle supply is tightening.
Cash cattle saw average prices move slightly higher for the week while CME futures tumbled lower. USDA’s reported cattle on feed February 1 inventory was the highest for that month in the series going back to 1996.
In the third installment of a who-knows-how-many series, Steve Cornett ruminates about the responses he's gathered from readers who are either for or against Sen. Chuck Grassley's proposed fix for cattle markets.
In the second installment of this series about the current cattle markets, veteran editor Steve Cornett visits with a Midwestern feeder who helps us understand Senator Grassley's curmudgeonly attitude about packers.
This idea of mandating a certain level of cash cattle trade is a bit revolutionary in what has been an evolutionary change in cattle price discovery over these last couple of decades, says veteran editor Steve Cornett.
Price discovery in today’s fed cattle market “appears to be functioning effectively in even the thinnest regional fed cattle markets,” according to an analysis by University of Arkansas agricultural economists.
Evaluating market fundamentals has led most analysts to project stronger price trends over the next few years. But just how high could prices go? Studying market patterns over the last 30 years provides valuable clues.
Developers of Cattlemen's Heritage Beef Company are seeking investors for a proposed $450-million beef packing facility to be built in western Iowa south of the Omaha/Council Bluffs area.
The December Cattle on Feed report, released on Friday, was the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year decreases in feedlot inventories, though November and December totals were only down slightly.
Efforts to collect signatures for a petition to recall the Beef Checkoff fell "far short" of the number needed to trigger a referendum. NCBA president Jerry Bohn calls it "a de facto referendum" supporting the Checkoff.
Market leverage continues to move toward the cattle feeder as prices rose for the third consecutive week. Cattle on feed numbers were slightly lower while placements and marketings were near industry estimates.
Warren County, Missouri, has been selected by American Foods Group (AFG) as the planned location for a new state-of-the-art beef processing facility, pending final approval.
Prosecutors said Robert Blom altered purchasing agreements, misled investors and sold the same groups of cattle to multiple buyers using the money to pay back previous investors.
Market-ready cattle numbers decline with little affect on prices, signaling supplies remain ample compared to slaughter capacity. Cattle on feed numbers were lower versus year-ago for the first time in 16 months.
The House Ag Committee passed the Cattle Contract Library Act of 2021 by unanimous vote on Thursday. Supporters say the act would give greater transparency to cattle markets and more leverage to producers.
“Cattle Contract Library Act of 2021” is designed to provide cattlemen with the market data needed to make more informed marketing decisions and exert greater leverage in negotiations with major meatpackers.
The Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club is suing the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in an effort to stop a 11,600-head feedlot in Clayton County that lies near Bloody Run Creek.
Legislative proposals aimed at the U.S. livestock markets could have a negative impact on farmers and ranchers they are intended to protect, Meat Institute argues ahead of Thursday’s House Ag Committee hearing.
Report requested by Congress and USDA puts into context a variety of cattle market disruptions, including the 2019 Tyson fire and the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on packing plants and disruption of beef supply chains.
An overnight fire at the JBS beef facility and a temporary computer glitch at Tyson's Dakota City facility disrupted beef packing on Monday sending futures prices sharply lower.
Heat across the Plains stifled prices on steers and heifers, yet August is historically a good time to sell yearlings and this year is no exception, AMS reporters said. Wholesale beef prices continued higher Monday.
Calls for cattle market reforms could hinder alternative marketing agreements (AMA), a value-based marketing tool that has improved beef quality over a generation.
Cattlemen should be suspicious of legislative and regulatory activity that interferes with markets under the guise of improving them, writes John Nalivka. Before long the entire camel is “in the tent.”
