
Tag Archives beef

Comment: Riding towards next year country
If you ride horses, you’ve probably heard the advice about looking where you’re going. It sounds pretty basic, but it’s easy to get in the habit of looking at the ground. However, if you stare at the ground too much, you may end up there. Plus, you need to set some direction for your horse. […] Read more

Lower feeder cattle prices spur outburst of emotions
Market Talk with Jerry Klassen
In January of 2010, a feeder association in Western Canada asked me to speak at their annual conference. This conference was held just after the major recession of 2009 and these producers wanted to look at options such as supply management for feeder cattle, government price support programs and other ideas to provide a guaranteed […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Live cattle down as slaughter recovers, beef prices sag
Hog futures mostly up on technical buying
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures fell on Friday, pressured by softening prices for market-ready cattle and declining packer profit margins as wholesale beef prices continue to slide, analysts said. Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) June live cattle futures settled down 1.825 cents at 93.9 cents/lb. and benchmark August fell 1.75 cents at 96.175 […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Live cattle firm on economic optimism
CME lean hogs close mostly higher
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures firmed for a second day on Thursday on technical buying and optimism that the U.S. economy may be on the upswing, analysts said. However, gains in nearby contracts trailed those in deferred months as a backlog of market-ready cattle and falling wholesale beef prices hung […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Nearby lean hog futures slide as slaughter rebounds
CME live cattle up on bargain buying
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange nearby lean hog futures hit a six-week low on Wednesday as the U.S. slaughter pace continued to recover, generating pork supplies that pressured wholesale prices and packer margins, traders said. CME June lean hogs ended down their daily limit of 3.75 cents, at 48.65 cents/lb., while most-active July […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Live cattle sag as wholesale beef prices retreat
Slaughter counts rising 'much faster than anticipated'
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures fell on Tuesday, with the August contract hitting its lowest in nearly a month as the U.S. slaughter pace picked up, sending more beef into retail channels, traders said. Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) June live cattle settled down three cents at 95.3 cents/lb., while most-active August ended […] Read more

Market research reveals opportunity to educate U.S. beef consumers
Building on the public’s trust in farmers and ranchers key to communicating humane treatment of animals and increasing consumer confidence
Now more than ever, consumers are indicating they care about animal welfare in livestock production. However, the average consumer has little knowledge of beef production. In the United States, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) conducted focus groups as part of its market research to understand what consumers believe about beef production. Participants who considered […] Read more

Weekly slaughter levels lowest in decades
The Markets with Deb McMillin, from the June 2020 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
Fed cattle This spring, weekly slaughter levels were nearly 60 per cent lower than a year ago and the lowest recorded since 1973. From mid-March to the first week of May, the cash market dropped $50.56/cwt to reach a low of $107.00/cwt. Although volumes are light, losses on cattle sold into this lower-cash market are […] Read more

JBS resumes second shift at Alberta beef plant
Out of 650 COVID cases at plant, 11 are 'active'
Meat giant JBS’s Alberta beef packing plant has resumed two daily shifts as of Thursday, as fewer than a dozen of its 2,600-plus employees are now sidelined by COVID-19. The JBS plant at Brooks, about 170 km east of Calgary, is “slowly returning to two shifts as of today,” the company said Thursday in a […] Read more

More Mexican beef headed to U.S. dinner tables as supply crunch bites
"I think we're going to leap past Canada this year"
Mexico City/Chicago | Reuters — More Mexican steaks and other beef cuts are headed north of the border after the coronavirus outbreak has hobbled U.S. meat processing plants, potentially offsetting fears of shortages affecting businesses from fast-food chains to grocery stores but angering U.S. ranchers. The Mexican industry chalks up the export growth to new […] Read more