Sort & Cull

Both the cash cattle and feeder cattle markets saw prices shoot higher last week as excellent demand amid such short supplies continues to drive prices higher.

Thus far in 2024, the market processed an average of 57,106 head of beef cows a week, which is considerably lower given the fact that in recent years the industry has seen mass liquidation. To date, in 2023, weekly cow slaughter averaged 67,226 head and in 2022 averaged...

Will allowing contracts to trade in a wider range help protect producers and mitigate market risk?

Seasonal demand may have been slow to surface, but last week, choice cuts averaged $9.96 higher than the previous week as consumers are ready for the grilling season!

Outside of the week ended March 24, 2024, when packers bought 98,759 head in the spot cash market, the last three consecutive weeks have seen the biggest volumes of cash cattle sales thus far in 2024.

The market has been full of challenges over the last six weeks, but between improved chain speeds and stronger cash cattle sales some fundamental improvements have taken place as well.

Farmers and ranchers are always looking for the right organization to belong to who will support them as a member. The Iowa Cattlemen's Association and Iowa Farm Bureau recently showed what they are doing for their members through work at the Iowa Capitol.

Pre-report estimates forecast placements to be anywhere from 90.0% to 94.7% of a year ago, so when the report showed placements in March were actually 88% -- cattlemen and traders alike were slightly taken back.

The market could decide to change direction, but the support plane of $172 is a critical focal point and worthy to note regardless of which way the market trades.

If you live in an area of total or even partial solar eclipse on Monday, whether it's sunny or cloudy, here's your chance to observe and record how the eclipse affects livestock, poultry, pet and wildlife behavior. You can answer a university survey that will help collect...

The difficult thing about situations like these is that until disease specialists have the time they need to run the tests necessary to better understand this flu variant, panic and fear fly as everyone in the market wants to be ahead of the story as opposed to behind...

One would like to think that the market would take bullish news and run with it. But when you study both the live cattle and feeder cattle market's charts, it's hard to demand that the market do much more when historically speaking the market is trading at its highest...

Given the snowstorms that crippled transportation, weekly sale barn auctions and consequently hindered feeder cattle placements in January, it should be common knowledge there were higher

I wish I could come to you early this week and share that packers are going to increase processing speeds to keep up with increasing consumer demand; however, that simply isn't the case.

Will chain speeds increase soon? I find it much more likely packers will keep chain speeds reduced so cash prices don't trade higher and supplies of market-ready cattle slowly start to build back up.

With harsh winter weather conditions prohibiting sales across the majority of the nation for a full week in January, it's hard to believe placements were only down 7% in Friday's Cattle on Feed report.

With the beef cow herd dramatically reduced, some feeder cattle buyers have already begun to buy grass calves.

Declining carcass weight is likely the reason packers were willing to buy Kansas-based cattle last week for $4 to $5 more than the previous week's weighted average while they were only willing to advance prices in Texas by $3.

During this time of excellent beef demand, the announcement of even fewer beef cows in the market will likely grab traders' attention and positively impact the market. I encourage you to tune into our comments on Wednesday regarding the inventory report and be ready for the...

I've cherished the time that I've gotten to spend with my family over the last couple of months, but I look forward to jumping back in the saddle and covering the markets in 2024 as the year ahead is bound to be full of opportunities.