Thursday, March 6, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
March 2013: Did you know...
Larry Corah, Vice President, Certified Angus Beef LLC | Updated: 03/04/2014
BEEF Online
Is ground beef the favorite American meat today? Well, many would say so, and a recent white paper suggested it could amount to 55-60 percent of all foodservice and retail beef sales.
Ground beef offers great taste and cooking flexibility in tacos, spaghetti sauce, casseroles, meatballs or burgers. While its cost has risen greatly in recent years, it still offers a price point competitive with pork and poultry.
But, there is a lot about ground beef sales that you probably did not know. In the past five years, new companies like Five Guys and Smashburger have created a whole new category (premium grinds) that now competes with fast food restaurants and white-tablecloth restaurants for the away-from-home diner. Their ground beef often comes from Prime or Premium Choice carcasses, prepared in ways so different from fast food restaurants as to create a whole new dining experience.
That has changed the price point for this grind category. Low Choice and Select grinds sell at the same price, but premium grinds have sold for 10¢ to 23¢/lb. more. For a brand such as Certified Angus Beef (CAB) that sells 50 lb. per carcass as premium grinds, it adds up to $12 to each qualified CAB carcass. In the ground beef world, that’s a huge economic impact.
The other part of ground beef sales you likely did not know is how grinding companies are starting to create blends that might include a percentage of ground brisket with ground chuck, ground sirloin and ground round. That’s because grinds from various regions of the carcass have a varying taste profile, creating the ultimate gourmet burger, unmatched for flavor.
Yes, the days when hamburger was hamburger are gone, and the beef industry has benefited greatly with grinds helping to maintain a competitive demand for beef.
Can this growing demand be met? Again, the answer is clearly yes, especially if the price of ground beef stays as strong as it is today. Sure the population of cull cows and bulls has shrunk, but the industry can use more of the fed steer and heifer carcass for grinding. Within the CAB brand, the opportunity to increase current sales from 50 up to 100 lb./carcass is attainable as the premium grind market continues to grow.
Bottom line, all this is a positive for beef demand and the beef producer.
click image to zoom
BEEF Online
Is ground beef the favorite American meat today? Well, many would say so, and a recent white paper suggested it could amount to 55-60 percent of all foodservice and retail beef sales.
Ground beef offers great taste and cooking flexibility in tacos, spaghetti sauce, casseroles, meatballs or burgers. While its cost has risen greatly in recent years, it still offers a price point competitive with pork and poultry.
But, there is a lot about ground beef sales that you probably did not know. In the past five years, new companies like Five Guys and Smashburger have created a whole new category (premium grinds) that now competes with fast food restaurants and white-tablecloth restaurants for the away-from-home diner. Their ground beef often comes from Prime or Premium Choice carcasses, prepared in ways so different from fast food restaurants as to create a whole new dining experience.
That has changed the price point for this grind category. Low Choice and Select grinds sell at the same price, but premium grinds have sold for 10¢ to 23¢/lb. more. For a brand such as Certified Angus Beef (CAB) that sells 50 lb. per carcass as premium grinds, it adds up to $12 to each qualified CAB carcass. In the ground beef world, that’s a huge economic impact.
The other part of ground beef sales you likely did not know is how grinding companies are starting to create blends that might include a percentage of ground brisket with ground chuck, ground sirloin and ground round. That’s because grinds from various regions of the carcass have a varying taste profile, creating the ultimate gourmet burger, unmatched for flavor.
Yes, the days when hamburger was hamburger are gone, and the beef industry has benefited greatly with grinds helping to maintain a competitive demand for beef.
Can this growing demand be met? Again, the answer is clearly yes, especially if the price of ground beef stays as strong as it is today. Sure the population of cull cows and bulls has shrunk, but the industry can use more of the fed steer and heifer carcass for grinding. Within the CAB brand, the opportunity to increase current sales from 50 up to 100 lb./carcass is attainable as the premium grind market continues to grow.
Bottom line, all this is a positive for beef demand and the beef producer.
click image to zoom
The Mt. Pony Special – Double-barrel baler
Written by Carl C. Stafford
Extension Agent, ANR Animal Science
Virginia Tech
Progressive Forage, E-Newsletter
A Virginia farmer has successfully built an operational hay baler proven to do the work of three square balers. According to builder, inventor and farmer Rusty Inskeep, this revolutionary machine is constructed from two conventional square balers.
This alone more than doubles efficiency, and with fewer turns needed in the field by this single unit, accompanied by its increased plunger stroke count per minute, Inskeep has proven it can bale more pounds of hay per hour than three individual balers can.
The “Mt. Pony Special” is capable of baling 5,000 bales per day, or 900 60-pound bales per hour in heavy first-cutting hay. In Culpeper County, Virginia, hay can be baled around noon and must cease with dewfall by early evening.
The Inskeeps have counted output from the baler at 140,000 bales over two seasons or about 70,000 bales of hay and straw per year.
The idea was to assemble two balers together to operate as one unit, joining them in the middle at the pickup head. One of the balers was left mostly intact as it came from the factory – other than being joined with the other baler.
But the second baler needed significant modifications to allow it to work as a unit with the first baler. It was cut apart and reassembled conjoined at the pickup head and by the custom hitch to allow the unit to operate. It spits out two rows of small square bales.
This is a story of two generations of thinking and doing, two generations of smarts, hard work and inventive uses of technology and skill coming together in a modern-day improvement to small square hay-baling efficiency.
Paul Inskeep joins his uncle Rusty as a fourth-generation operator at Mt. Pony Farms, a 2,000-acre crop and hay farm located in Culpeper County; his brothers and cousins also have and do participate in the operation.
As is the case on most farms, it comes naturally and is often a requirement of the occupation to engineer, design, modify and build better equipment.
The Mt. Pony Farm shop is always busy with a project or two under construction, supervised by three primary operators – brothers Rusty, Bill and John. They work as a team and specialize in their own areas of expertise, while constantly striving to improve efficiency, timing and reduce costs.
Over two winters working together, Rusty and Paul (Bill’s son) managed to design and build an amazing machine they call the “double-barrel” baler, later christened the “Mt. Pony Special.”
The younger generation stepped up as the hitch was being designed and assembled. Paul brought his skills with computer programming to engineer and assess design strength, materials tolerance and stress points, which allowed many “iterations” to be run on paper to avoid making more permanent mistakes in the long run.
The hitch is a critical element of the entire machine. It must carry and distribute the load, while arching over a huge windrow of hay being force-fed into the 7-foot 4.5-inch pickup head (standard width 6 feet).
The complex and heavy, arching hitch is connected to a 140 hp tractor running dual wheels for stability. The baler is 13 feet wide and weighs 11,000 pounds with a tongue weight of 2,640 pounds.
The 1,000 rpm drive shaft turned by the tractor reduces down to 540 rpms after passing through right-angle gear boxes, turning the power through standard flywheels and into the dual chambers cutting and compressing hay into bales.
The unit has scales to allow for adjustment in bale size and density needed by the three self-propelled bale wagons which pick up the hay.
Moisture testing is on-the-go and twine is dispensed from a custom 16-ball twine box. Two super single-trailer tires (24 ply) keep the heavy machine on a straight track during operation and carry the bulk of the machine’s weight.
Timing is everything at Mt. Pony Farms, and the Inskeeps excel at efficiency. This baler follows a long list of other innovations supportive of the principles they live by. FG
Extension Agent, ANR Animal Science
Virginia Tech
Progressive Forage, E-Newsletter
A Virginia farmer has successfully built an operational hay baler proven to do the work of three square balers. According to builder, inventor and farmer Rusty Inskeep, this revolutionary machine is constructed from two conventional square balers.
This alone more than doubles efficiency, and with fewer turns needed in the field by this single unit, accompanied by its increased plunger stroke count per minute, Inskeep has proven it can bale more pounds of hay per hour than three individual balers can.
The “Mt. Pony Special” is capable of baling 5,000 bales per day, or 900 60-pound bales per hour in heavy first-cutting hay. In Culpeper County, Virginia, hay can be baled around noon and must cease with dewfall by early evening.
The Inskeeps have counted output from the baler at 140,000 bales over two seasons or about 70,000 bales of hay and straw per year.
The idea was to assemble two balers together to operate as one unit, joining them in the middle at the pickup head. One of the balers was left mostly intact as it came from the factory – other than being joined with the other baler.
But the second baler needed significant modifications to allow it to work as a unit with the first baler. It was cut apart and reassembled conjoined at the pickup head and by the custom hitch to allow the unit to operate. It spits out two rows of small square bales.
This is a story of two generations of thinking and doing, two generations of smarts, hard work and inventive uses of technology and skill coming together in a modern-day improvement to small square hay-baling efficiency.
Paul Inskeep joins his uncle Rusty as a fourth-generation operator at Mt. Pony Farms, a 2,000-acre crop and hay farm located in Culpeper County; his brothers and cousins also have and do participate in the operation.
As is the case on most farms, it comes naturally and is often a requirement of the occupation to engineer, design, modify and build better equipment.
The Mt. Pony Farm shop is always busy with a project or two under construction, supervised by three primary operators – brothers Rusty, Bill and John. They work as a team and specialize in their own areas of expertise, while constantly striving to improve efficiency, timing and reduce costs.
Over two winters working together, Rusty and Paul (Bill’s son) managed to design and build an amazing machine they call the “double-barrel” baler, later christened the “Mt. Pony Special.”
The younger generation stepped up as the hitch was being designed and assembled. Paul brought his skills with computer programming to engineer and assess design strength, materials tolerance and stress points, which allowed many “iterations” to be run on paper to avoid making more permanent mistakes in the long run.
The hitch is a critical element of the entire machine. It must carry and distribute the load, while arching over a huge windrow of hay being force-fed into the 7-foot 4.5-inch pickup head (standard width 6 feet).
The complex and heavy, arching hitch is connected to a 140 hp tractor running dual wheels for stability. The baler is 13 feet wide and weighs 11,000 pounds with a tongue weight of 2,640 pounds.
The 1,000 rpm drive shaft turned by the tractor reduces down to 540 rpms after passing through right-angle gear boxes, turning the power through standard flywheels and into the dual chambers cutting and compressing hay into bales.
The unit has scales to allow for adjustment in bale size and density needed by the three self-propelled bale wagons which pick up the hay.
Moisture testing is on-the-go and twine is dispensed from a custom 16-ball twine box. Two super single-trailer tires (24 ply) keep the heavy machine on a straight track during operation and carry the bulk of the machine’s weight.
Timing is everything at Mt. Pony Farms, and the Inskeeps excel at efficiency. This baler follows a long list of other innovations supportive of the principles they live by. FG
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Commentary: Reduced-fat phenomenon
Dan Murphy | Updated: 03/03/2014
BEEF Online
After decades of inexorably rising rates of obesity among American youth, a new CDC analysis reveals a reversal of the trend. And best of all? The word ‘meat’ never appears in the report.
Ask any public health official about the most urgent challenge they face, and most of them would immediately identify the problem of obesity that has been a particularly intransigent problem among the youngest generation.
About the only thing that outnumbered the percentage of Americans of all ages considered overweight or obese has been the strident opinions about which magic bullet that government/schools/businesses/advertisers/food processors were supposed to fire to cure the problem.
We’re too sedentary of a nation, with too many drive-thrus and video games, so the solution is to get people to take up exercising, to stop watching and start playing more sports. But even as recreational and adventure sports have become billion-dollar businesses and gym membership grew to record levels, obesity continued to increase.
Others pointed to the fast-food purveyors and the decidedly unhealthy products that too many people consumers too many times a week — if only Americans would stop patronizing those restaurants, we’d see a big change in the statistics. But even as the entire industry reinvented its menuboard, offering salads and fruit cups and even vegetarian options, obesity continued to increase.
Veggie activists used the crisis to insist that there’s not an overweight vegan alive on Earth, and if only the entire world would abandon the foods that have sustained humanity for all of recorded history, the problem would be solved. Yet despite the somewhat modest growth in the numbers of people claiming to be vegetarians, obesity continued to increase.
Until now.
According to a comprehensive data collected by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the national obesity rate among 2- to 5-year-olds dropped by almost half over the past decade, suggesting that a new generation of Americans may (finally) be able to avoid the risks of heart disease and diabetes linked to obesity.
Officially, obesity among young children fell from 14 percent in 2003 to 2004 to 8.1 percent in 2011 to 2012, according to a summary of the CDC data published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The results expanded on data initially reported by CDC officials in October 2013.
In children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years, obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile of CDC’s gender-specific, age-adjusted BMI growth charts. In adults, obesity was defined as a BMI greater than or equal to 30.
Why, you ask, has obesity declined so dramatically in the last several years, after decade upon decade of increasing incidence? Well, the CDC researchers were careful to state that “the reason for the decline in obesity among 2- to 5-year-olds was not clear.” But there are some helpful indicators.
A comprehensive plan
First of all, despite the rhetoric of single-issue activists, obesity is a multi-factorial, highly complex phenomenon with a constellation of causes that impact the incidence rate. That’s why the specific, seemingly positive changes noted above hadn’t made much of a dent in the problem.
Here’s a great example: Consider this list of undertaken in school districts across King County (Washington), where Seattle is located. The programs were part of a two-year federal obesity-prevention program called Communities Putting Prevention to Work.
Which one(s) on this list do you think had the most impact on obesity rates?
No one has definitive answers.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 mandated that USDA set guidelines for local schools’ nutrition education and physical activity policies, and beginning in July of this year, more than 22,000 schools across the country serving low-income students will be eligible to provide free lunches and breakfasts to all students.
That’s all helpful and productive. But if there is one single measure that should rise to the top of obesity’s priority list — sorry, Coke and Pepsi —it’s a ban on soft drinks all day, every day in every school in the country.
If we’re going to get serious about rolling back the obesity crisis among children, it will take concerted action in a number of areas to affect their lifestyles. But for starters, how about a lot less bombast about “unhealthy” burgers and fries and more tough talk — and decisive action — to dry up the oceans of soda that kids and adolescents are swimming in?
Know how that works?
We’ve got to stop buying and drinking the stuff ourselves.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dan Murphy, a veteran food-industry journalist and commentator.
BEEF Online
After decades of inexorably rising rates of obesity among American youth, a new CDC analysis reveals a reversal of the trend. And best of all? The word ‘meat’ never appears in the report.
Ask any public health official about the most urgent challenge they face, and most of them would immediately identify the problem of obesity that has been a particularly intransigent problem among the youngest generation.
About the only thing that outnumbered the percentage of Americans of all ages considered overweight or obese has been the strident opinions about which magic bullet that government/schools/businesses/advertisers/food processors were supposed to fire to cure the problem.
We’re too sedentary of a nation, with too many drive-thrus and video games, so the solution is to get people to take up exercising, to stop watching and start playing more sports. But even as recreational and adventure sports have become billion-dollar businesses and gym membership grew to record levels, obesity continued to increase.
Others pointed to the fast-food purveyors and the decidedly unhealthy products that too many people consumers too many times a week — if only Americans would stop patronizing those restaurants, we’d see a big change in the statistics. But even as the entire industry reinvented its menuboard, offering salads and fruit cups and even vegetarian options, obesity continued to increase.
Veggie activists used the crisis to insist that there’s not an overweight vegan alive on Earth, and if only the entire world would abandon the foods that have sustained humanity for all of recorded history, the problem would be solved. Yet despite the somewhat modest growth in the numbers of people claiming to be vegetarians, obesity continued to increase.
Until now.
According to a comprehensive data collected by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the national obesity rate among 2- to 5-year-olds dropped by almost half over the past decade, suggesting that a new generation of Americans may (finally) be able to avoid the risks of heart disease and diabetes linked to obesity.
Officially, obesity among young children fell from 14 percent in 2003 to 2004 to 8.1 percent in 2011 to 2012, according to a summary of the CDC data published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The results expanded on data initially reported by CDC officials in October 2013.
In children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years, obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile of CDC’s gender-specific, age-adjusted BMI growth charts. In adults, obesity was defined as a BMI greater than or equal to 30.
Why, you ask, has obesity declined so dramatically in the last several years, after decade upon decade of increasing incidence? Well, the CDC researchers were careful to state that “the reason for the decline in obesity among 2- to 5-year-olds was not clear.” But there are some helpful indicators.
A comprehensive plan
First of all, despite the rhetoric of single-issue activists, obesity is a multi-factorial, highly complex phenomenon with a constellation of causes that impact the incidence rate. That’s why the specific, seemingly positive changes noted above hadn’t made much of a dent in the problem.
Here’s a great example: Consider this list of undertaken in school districts across King County (Washington), where Seattle is located. The programs were part of a two-year federal obesity-prevention program called Communities Putting Prevention to Work.
Which one(s) on this list do you think had the most impact on obesity rates?
- The Seattle School District replaced older equipment and supplies in its Physical Education programs.
- Another school district began participating in the Commit 2B Fit campaign, in which 6,000 students and staff tracked and logged their monthly activities, with a point system awarding gold, silver and bronze “medals.”
- In Auburn, Wash. (King County’s most obese community, by the way), a high school teacher and students belonging to DECA, a national student group that fosters entrepreneurship and leadership, put up signs in the cafeteria promoting the importance of breakfast and good eating habits, visited all the district schools to promote the initiative and brought in experts to talk about nutrition and fitness.
- A Seattle elementary school promoted a “Stop Pop” movement.
- The principal of a high school began riding his bicycle to work, swapped Coke for water in the school’s vending machines and began eating alongside students in the cafeteria.
- About 100 students in one district got involved in CrossFit training in the middle and high schools, and many of them participated in a recent 5K run.
- One school stopped giving doughnuts to students when someone did something good.
No one has definitive answers.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 mandated that USDA set guidelines for local schools’ nutrition education and physical activity policies, and beginning in July of this year, more than 22,000 schools across the country serving low-income students will be eligible to provide free lunches and breakfasts to all students.
That’s all helpful and productive. But if there is one single measure that should rise to the top of obesity’s priority list — sorry, Coke and Pepsi —it’s a ban on soft drinks all day, every day in every school in the country.
If we’re going to get serious about rolling back the obesity crisis among children, it will take concerted action in a number of areas to affect their lifestyles. But for starters, how about a lot less bombast about “unhealthy” burgers and fries and more tough talk — and decisive action — to dry up the oceans of soda that kids and adolescents are swimming in?
Know how that works?
We’ve got to stop buying and drinking the stuff ourselves.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dan Murphy, a veteran food-industry journalist and commentator.
Monday, March 3, 2014
COW/CALF CORNER
COW/CALF
CORNER
The Newsletter
From the Oklahoma
Cooperative Extension Service
March 3, 2014
Don’t Buy Calf
Scours!
Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University Emeritus Extension Animal Scientist
Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University Emeritus Extension Animal Scientist
South
Dakota State University researchers examined the cause of a scours epidemic in
one spring calving herd back in 2000. Results of the retrospective,
record-based investigation suggested that introduction of foster calves was
associated with the calf scours outbreak. Prior to April 5, no scours
cases had been observed, despite 39 calves being born. The calf scours
epidemic was clearly in swing by the 45th day of the spring 2000 calving season
and first cases of the epidemic were observed between the 31st and 40th days
(April 5, 2000 through April 14, 2000). Following April 5, records
indicated there was the introduction of at least 2 foster calves. The outbreak
commenced shortly after the introduction of foster calves. Foster calves
can introduce pathogens to a herd, and can shed calf scours pathogens in their
feces even when feces appear normal. Because of this risk, the
introduction of foster calves is not usually recommended. If introduced
into a herd, foster calves (with their foster dam) should be isolated from
the remainder of the herd until all calves are at least 4 weeks old.
At that time, it is generally regarded as safe to commingle foster calf pairs
with the remainder of the herd. Source: W. B. Epperson. 2003 South Dakota
Beef Report.
New Mexico February State USDA Bulletin
The 2014 Farm Bill, formally known as the
Agricultural Act of 2014, makes the Livestock Forage Program (LFP) and Livestock
Indemnity Program (LIP) permanent programs and provides retroactive authority
to cover eligible losses back to Oct. 1, 2011.
LFP provides compensation to
eligible producers who suffered grazing losses due to drought and fire. LIP
provides compensation to livestock producers who suffered livestock death
losses in excess of normal mortality due to adverse weather and attacks by animals
reintroduced into the wild by the Federal Government or protected by Federal
law, including wolves and avian predators.
USDA is determined to make implementing the livestock disaster programs a top priority and plans to open program enrollment by April 15, 2014.
As USDA begins implementing the livestock disaster assistance programs, producers should record all pertinent information of natural disaster consequences, including:
• Documentation of the number and kind of livestock that have died, supplemented if possible by photographs or video records of ownership and losses
• Dates of death supported by birth recordings or purchase receipts
• Costs of transporting livestock to safer grounds or to move animals to new pastures
• Feed purchases if supplies or grazing pastures are destroyed
• Crop records, including seed and fertilizer purchases, planting and production records
• Pictures of on-farm storage facilities that were destroyed by wind or flood waters
• Evidence of damaged farm land.
Many producers still have questions. USDA is in the process of interpreting Farm Bill program regulations. Additional information will be provided once the enrollment period is announced. In the meantime, producers can review the LIP and LFP Fact Sheets. Thanks for your patience as USDA works diligently to put Farm Bill programs into action to benefit the farmers and ranchers of rural America.
USDA is determined to make implementing the livestock disaster programs a top priority and plans to open program enrollment by April 15, 2014.
As USDA begins implementing the livestock disaster assistance programs, producers should record all pertinent information of natural disaster consequences, including:
• Documentation of the number and kind of livestock that have died, supplemented if possible by photographs or video records of ownership and losses
• Dates of death supported by birth recordings or purchase receipts
• Costs of transporting livestock to safer grounds or to move animals to new pastures
• Feed purchases if supplies or grazing pastures are destroyed
• Crop records, including seed and fertilizer purchases, planting and production records
• Pictures of on-farm storage facilities that were destroyed by wind or flood waters
• Evidence of damaged farm land.
Many producers still have questions. USDA is in the process of interpreting Farm Bill program regulations. Additional information will be provided once the enrollment period is announced. In the meantime, producers can review the LIP and LFP Fact Sheets. Thanks for your patience as USDA works diligently to put Farm Bill programs into action to benefit the farmers and ranchers of rural America.
Thanks for your patience in
this process.
Cattle Outlook: Cattle futures reach new record highs
Source - Ron Plain and Scott Brown
Fed cattle prices set new records this week. Live weight prices for slaughter steer reached $130/cwt for the first time ever in October. They made it to $140/cwt for the first time in January, and this week they went above $150/cwt for the first time ever. Through Thursday, the 5-area average price for slaughter steers sold on a live weight basis was $150.66/cwt, up $8.66 from a week ago and up $22.82 from a year ago. Steer sales on a dressed basis averaged $239.98/cwt this week, up $9.98 from a week ago and up $36.68 from year ago. Sales volume was heavy.
Cattle futures also established new record highs this week. The February live cattle futures contract closed at $151.95/cwt today, up $7.40 from last week's close. April fed cattle settled at $144.97, up $3.52 for the week. June settled at $134.20/cwt, up $1.48.
The March feeder cattle futures contract ended the week at $171.70/cwt, up $1.00 for the week. April feeders closed at $173.07/cwt, up $1.87 from the previous Friday. The May feeder cattle contract ended the week at $173.70.
This morning, the boxed beef cutout value for choice carcasses was $224.56/cwt, up $9.78 from the previous Friday and up $37.07 from a year ago. The select carcass cutout is $221.66/cwt, up $9.84 from last week and up $36.41 from last year.
U.S. beef demand was up 1.7% in 2013 to the highest level since 2008. Domestic beef demand is 7.4% higher than 15 years ago, which is a bigger increase than for pork, chicken or turkey.
Overall meat demand in 2013 was up 3.0% to the highest level since 2007, which was before the last recession.
Export demand for U.S. beef in 2013 was up 4.9% compared to the year before and was 24.2% greater than 15 years ago. Beef export demand in 2013 was 2.6% lower than in 2003, the last year without BSE.
This week's cattle slaughter totaled 567,000 head, up 5.2% from the previous week and up 5.3% from the corresponding week last year.
The average steer dressed weight for the week ending on February 15 was 862 pounds, down 9 pounds from the week before, and down 8 pounds from a year earlier.
Feeder cattle prices at this week's Oklahoma City auction were $2 lower to $2 higher in good volume. This week's prices for medium and large frame #1 steers by weight were: 400-450# $210-$237, 450-500# $210-$237, 500-550# $210-$223, 550-600# $183-$212, 600-650# $176-$199, 650-700# $170-$184, 700-750# $166.50-$175.25, 750-800# $162.25-$169.85, 800-900# $151-$164.50, and 900-1000# $146-$156.50/cwt.
Fed cattle prices set new records this week. Live weight prices for slaughter steer reached $130/cwt for the first time ever in October. They made it to $140/cwt for the first time in January, and this week they went above $150/cwt for the first time ever. Through Thursday, the 5-area average price for slaughter steers sold on a live weight basis was $150.66/cwt, up $8.66 from a week ago and up $22.82 from a year ago. Steer sales on a dressed basis averaged $239.98/cwt this week, up $9.98 from a week ago and up $36.68 from year ago. Sales volume was heavy.
Cattle futures also established new record highs this week. The February live cattle futures contract closed at $151.95/cwt today, up $7.40 from last week's close. April fed cattle settled at $144.97, up $3.52 for the week. June settled at $134.20/cwt, up $1.48.
The March feeder cattle futures contract ended the week at $171.70/cwt, up $1.00 for the week. April feeders closed at $173.07/cwt, up $1.87 from the previous Friday. The May feeder cattle contract ended the week at $173.70.
This morning, the boxed beef cutout value for choice carcasses was $224.56/cwt, up $9.78 from the previous Friday and up $37.07 from a year ago. The select carcass cutout is $221.66/cwt, up $9.84 from last week and up $36.41 from last year.
U.S. beef demand was up 1.7% in 2013 to the highest level since 2008. Domestic beef demand is 7.4% higher than 15 years ago, which is a bigger increase than for pork, chicken or turkey.
Overall meat demand in 2013 was up 3.0% to the highest level since 2007, which was before the last recession.
Export demand for U.S. beef in 2013 was up 4.9% compared to the year before and was 24.2% greater than 15 years ago. Beef export demand in 2013 was 2.6% lower than in 2003, the last year without BSE.
This week's cattle slaughter totaled 567,000 head, up 5.2% from the previous week and up 5.3% from the corresponding week last year.
The average steer dressed weight for the week ending on February 15 was 862 pounds, down 9 pounds from the week before, and down 8 pounds from a year earlier.
Feeder cattle prices at this week's Oklahoma City auction were $2 lower to $2 higher in good volume. This week's prices for medium and large frame #1 steers by weight were: 400-450# $210-$237, 450-500# $210-$237, 500-550# $210-$223, 550-600# $183-$212, 600-650# $176-$199, 650-700# $170-$184, 700-750# $166.50-$175.25, 750-800# $162.25-$169.85, 800-900# $151-$164.50, and 900-1000# $146-$156.50/cwt.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)