Agricultural News
Cash Cattle Trade Sharply Higher This Week- and So Are Most Other Cattle Prices
Thu, 31 Mar 2011 6:36:19 CDT
It's another record set of cash cattle prices this week in the southern Plains feedlots, with the Texas Cattle Feeders Association reporting that over 32,000 head of cattle moved in the Wednesday timeframe. A total of 15,964 sold for $120.00 per hundredweight, while 13,984 sold for $121.00 per hundred. There were reports by Reuters that some cattle in Kansas sold for as much as $123 for out of state shipment. Click here for the Daily Pricing Sheet for March 30 from the TCFA reflecting these record values.
The higher than expected cash cattle prices reflect strong global demand, early grilling season support and shrinking world meat supplies.
Profitability is pushing prices up. "Packers are making money, cattle feeders are making money and the meat is moving. We have never seen these kinds dynamics before when all sectors were profitable," says Daniel Bluntzer, director of research for Frontier Risk Management.
And it's not just the slaughter cattle that are running white hot when it comes to current prices- wholesale boxed beef trade touched above $189 a week ago, fell back by the end of last week, but has edged back to more than $188 this week. Yearling prices for seven to eight hundred pounders sold from $129 to $142 at OKC West in El Reno this week, while five to six hundred pound steer calves that were judged to be medium and large frame number ones sold from $159 to $170, also at OKC West in El Reno on Wednesday. Click here for the March 30th OKC West Cattle Market Report, reflecting these very strong prices.
We talk about these strong prices in the cattle marketplace with OSU Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel, who believes that especially for the stocker cattle and yearlings, tight supplies may result in even higher prices down the road.
Dr. Peel is our guest on the Beef Buzz.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the state on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the listen bar below for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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