Grimes and Plain
Cattle Outlook: June COF placements drop 11%
USDA's June cattle on feed report said placements during May were down 10.8% compared to a year ago. May marketings from large feed yards were up 7.3%. The number of cattle on feed at the start of June was up 4.1% compared to the same day last year.
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Cattle Outlook: Fed cattle prices lower for 5th week in a row
The trade has been expecting a drop in the number of cattle being placed on feed. After all, USDA says the 2010 calf crop was smaller than the year before for the 15th consecutive year.
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Cattle Outlook: Cattle on Feed placements climb
Retail beef prices set a new record last month. The average price of choice beef in grocery stores during April was $4.821 per pound, up 7.4 cents from March and 38.1 cents higher than in April 2010. This was the fourth consecutive month with record beef prices.
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Cattle Outlook: March beef exports up 47 percent
Beef exports during March totaled 245.288 million pounds, up 46.5% compared to a year earlier and the second largest monthly total ever behind 259.2 million pounds exported in June 2003. Beef imports during March totaled 175.01 million pounds, down 21.0% from 12 months earlier.
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Cattle Outlook: Fed cattle prices sink for second week
There was some good news on the economy this week. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says 244 thousand jobs were added in April, the biggest monthly increase since May. The unemployment rate increased from 8.8% to 9.0% due to a surge in people re-entering the labor market.
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Cattle Outlook: Cattle slaughter down 5% from previous week
Both cattle and beef prices were lower this week. On Friday morning the choice boxed beef carcass cutout value was $182.88/cwt, down $3.40 from last week.
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Cattle Outlook: Slaughter steers reach record price
USDA’s April cattle on feed report said that placements during March were 3.3% above year-ago and marketings were 4.5% higher than in March 2010. The number of cattle on feed April 1 was up 5.0%. These numbers are slightly more bullish than the trade predictions.
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Cattle Outlook: Beef exports 25.4% higher
Beef trade continues to be very favorable. Beef exports during February were 25.4% higher than 12 months earlier and beef imports were 16.5% lower. The big growth markets for beef exports were South Korea, Japan and Canada. Canada, Australia and Brazil account for the drop in beef imports.
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Fed cattle prices improve on last week’s record
The April WASDE report increased USDA’s forecast of the average live price of slaughter steers in 2011 by $3.50/cwt to a range between $109/cwt and $114/cwt.
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Cattle Outlook: Fed cattle remain at record level
It was a great week to be selling cattle. Fed cattle prices are at a record level. The 5-area daily weighted average price for slaughter steers sold through Thursday of this week on a live weight basis was $121.57/cwt, up $7.32 from a week earlier. This breaks the record of $117.89 set three weeks earlier.
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Cattle Outlook: Frozen beef supplies largest in 2 years
The amount of beef in cold storage at the end of February, 468 million pounds, was up 1.3% from the month before and up 15.6% compared to a year earlier. Frozen beef supplies are the largest since January 2009. As a general rule, increasing stocks of frozen beef is a negative for price, but it doesn't appear to be hurting prices this year.
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- Commentary: New rules un-COOL
- Former Eastern Livestock CEO, CFO sentenced for federal crimes
- TSCRA works with sale barns to catch Houston cattle thief
- NASA backs 3D food printer to feed growing population
- More beef cows in worst drought regions than a year ago
- Post-tornado composting a solution for disposal of dead livestock
