Prices for beef cattle continue to be strong across the beef value chain, although feedlot profitability could be challenging by the end of 2025, analyst Jerry Klassen says.
Tag Archives beef demand
Beef demand drives cattle and beef markets higher
The Markets: Feedlot profitability could be challenging by the end of the year
Beef cattle prices start to reduce demand
The Markets: Watch U.S. consumer buying trends for signs of the cattle market’s future
U.S. consumer purchasing has slowed, which means slower movement of cattle to beef processors. This will likely mean declining prices, says Jerry Klassen, market analyst.
Argentine beef exports hit highest level in more than five decades
Argentina's beef exports during the first nine months of this year rose to their highest level in 57 years, as shipments of one of the South American country's best-known food staples grew among buyers in the United States and neighboring Chile.
Tighter fed cattle supplies support feeder market
U.S. beef producers are not yet holding back enough heifers for expansion
During the first week of June, Alberta packers were buying fed cattle on a live basis at $261 per hundredweight, f.o.b, feedlot in southern Alberta, up $4/cwt from a month earlier. Market-ready supplies of fed cattle were sharply above year-ago levels earlier in winter, but the backlog has slowly been alleviated through the spring period. […] Read more
Lower feedlot placements support cattle market
Cow-calf producers should think about selling calves in late summer versus fall
During the last week of April, Alberta packers were buying fed cattle on a live basis in the range of $256-$258 per hundredweight delivered, up $18/cwt from three weeks earlier. Alberta fed cattle basis levels have strengthened as market-ready supplies tighten. In Kansas and Texas, live sales, f.o.b. feedlot, were reported at US$182/cwt, down US$3/cwt […] Read more
How consumer spending drives fed cattle prices
Here's why a small change in spending affects the beef market
Cattle producers are bombarded with charts and data from cattle inventory reports and cattle on feed surveys. During the fall of 2023, live cattle futures and were trending lower. Every analyst I was reading was focused on how low supplies were from a historical perspective; however, fed cattle prices were on a downward spiral. It’s […] Read more
Cattle herd declines while economy expands
One per cent increase in consumer spending means one per cent increase in beef demand
I often place myself two years in the future, with a view of the past two years. The old saying is that hindsight is 20/20. Well then, place yourself in the future and look backward. If I were giving a cattle market outlook in March 2026, the summary would be the following: During 2024, feeder […] Read more
Beef demand outlook brightens
U.S. consumer spending — the main driver of beef demand — is improving
U.S. and Canadian inflation reached 40-year highs in June of 2022. Interest rates reached 22-year highs in the summer of 2023. For the past two years, most financial analysts were forecasting a U.S. and Canadian recession at some point in the future. When the recessions didn’t occur, they delayed the recession forecast by three to […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder cattle prices digesting uncertainty
Defensive tone likely through January
The feeder cattle market was very quiet during the last week of December with auction barns in holiday mode. There were discussions regarding direct sales but no actual business was confirmed. The stakes are too high given the market uncertainty; a defensive tone will likely continue throughout January. Feed grains continue to percolate higher; the […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures trim back on election uncertainty
Pork fundamentals still bearish on hogs
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live and feeder cattle futures fell on Tuesday in a round of profit-taking ahead of an uncertain U.S. presidential election, analysts said. Chicago Mercantile Exchange December live cattle futures settled 0.725 cent lower at 107.825 cents/lb., after rising in each the last five sessions (all figures US$). CME feeder cattle […] Read more
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