Being on the cusp of grilling season, the timing could not be worse.

COVID-19’s continuing chaos

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay

As I write this on April 6, the April live cattle futures contract here in the U.S. has closed down its 450-point extended daily limit for the fourth day in a row. The contract closed at US$83.82 per cwt, thus losing 1,800 points in those four days. In contrast, the contract settled on February 21 […] Read more

The big question facing the beef industry and the economy as a whole is how quickly they will recover after the coronavirus threat has passed.

The cruelty of the coronavirus

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay

The start of the new decade held much promise, whether it was for the global economy or prospects of an even bigger trade with China for North American livestock producers. Much of that promise has been cruelly shattered, at least temporarily, by a new coronavirus (COVID-19) that emerged in central China and made its way […] Read more


Slices of thick cut steaks

Will the U.S. have enough beef?

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay

A valid question arises when considering the latest supply and demand dynamics for the U.S. beef industry. Will it have enough beef to supply an expected increase in exports to its major market, Japan, and to emerging market China? The U.S. has spent years developing export markets in virtually all corners of the globe, notably […] Read more

Several key trade deals are poised to benefit red meat sectors.

Trade deals herald a promising year ahead

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay

The new decade begins with much promise for the North American cattle/beef industry. Several key trade deals will benefit the red meat sectors in all three countries, including developments in China and the ratification by the U.S. Congress of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). China’s ongoing efforts to fill the protein hole caused by the […] Read more


October 2019 saw strong domestic and export demand for beef.

Beef demand should remain strong

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay

How much consumers pay for beef and how much they buy largely determines the success of the North American beef industry. Beef demand at home and abroad was strong last year across the continent and should remain so in 2020. Much of the reason is that the U.S. and Canadian economies are among the strongest […] Read more

Strong demand has made beef the protein of choice for most American consumers.

Rising tide raises all boats

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay

The old saying that a rising tide raises all boats is especially apt in the U.S. beef industry right now. Stronger than expected domestic beef demand has raised cash live cattle prices above their levels of the week of Tyson Foods’ Holcomb, Kansas, fire on August 9. Live prices, based on USDA’s five-area region, averaged […] Read more


While food insecurity was a problem before the pandemic, related income drops are expected to worsen the problem.

Beef faces plethora of pork in the marketplace

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay

Pork, pork and more pork. That’s what the U.S. beef market faces as it moves into the middle of the last quarter of 2019. American pork processors are harvesting live hogs at a record rate and putting more pork onto the market than ever before. Only strong pork exports (accounting for 27 per cent of […] Read more

Adverse weather has had an impact on the U.S. fed cattle market in 2019.

Beef prices weather the weather

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay

The U.S. beef market is proving to be remarkably resilient this year. Summer heat has finally given way to cooler weather. But beef demand held up remarkably well in the heat and domestic demand in July was actually better than last year. Now the market has the Labor Day holiday behind it, which usually boosts […] Read more


The U.S. meat and livestock industry has a comprehensive price reporting system that is the envy of the world.

Kay: Price reporting invaluable to livestock and meat industries

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay

Good market information, particularly regarding prices, is the lifeblood of the livestock and meat industry, in which millions of dollars change hands every day of the week. “Good” information, however, must be accurate and unbiased, as comprehensive as possible, timely and easily accessible, and understood by all market participants. Today’s cattle producers throughout Canada can […] Read more

A plunging futures market in mid-May caused hedged cattle feeders to sell cattle early at lower prices for three weeks in a row.

Kay: Cattle futures crush the present

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay

Futures markets perform an important role in agricultural markets by allowing producers of key commodities to construct risk management strategies to help them make money. The futures are also anticipatory markets, and these two roles sometimes make for strange bedfellows. Right now in the U.S., the futures market for feeder and live cattle are crushing […] Read more