Beef cattle prices have trended above the five-year average, but low numbers of replacement heifers and beef cows suggests producers aren't ready to grow cattle herds.
Tag Archives beef markets
Beef cow, replacement heifer numbers suggest producers aren’t ready to grow herds: FCC
National Beef Strategy celebrates gains
The Canadian Beef Advisors, comprised of national beef organizations, is celebrating achieving many of the goals in the 2020-24 National Beef Strategy.
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
Korean beef: similar feed, but much more marbling
Better Bunks and Pastures: Hanwoo cattle are finished to higher weights than most Canadian cattle, with similar daily gains
I am going to take a month off from my regular routine. Rather than discuss the latest in Canadian beef nutrition, I am going to examine a new beef experience, almost 10,000 km west of Winnipeg, at the outskirts of Naju City in South Korea. In short order, my girlfriend and I took a two-week […] Read more
Cattle market works to ration demand
Cattle prices are expected to reach historic highs this summer, then drop
During the first half of April, Alberta packers were buying fed cattle on a live basis at $240 per hundredweight delivered, up $8/cwt from a month earlier. Market-ready fed cattle supplies in Alberta and Saskatchewan are tightening, causing the fed cattle basis to strengthen. While the Canadian domestic slaughter is running slightly below year-over-year levels, […] Read more
Expect stronger cattle markets for third quarter
A surprise reduction in beef production could mean higher prices
During the second week of March, Alberta packers were buying fed cattle on a dressed basis in the range of $378-$380 per hundredweight (cwt) delivered. Prices f.o.b. (free on board) the feedlot in southern Alberta were quoted from $225 to $226/cwt. The market has been consolidating over the past month, as market-ready fed cattle supplies […] 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
Total US cattle herd drops to lowest level since 1951 – USDA
Easing dryness could encourage ranchers to begin rebuilding beef herds
Chicago | Reuters - The total number of U.S. cattle fell to its lowest level since 1951 as of Jan. 1, in the herd's fifth consecutive year of decline, U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed on Wednesday.
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
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