Agricultural News
Beef Exports Strong, Record Prices Signal Caution Domestically
Wed, 07 Mar 2012 11:08:42 CST
Beef exports remain strong while domestic sales remain somewhat sluggish into the new year says Jim Robb, executive director of the Livestock Market Information Center based in Denver, Colorado.
Robb says the demand in exports grew at an 11-percent rate year-over-year according to the last six weeks of data from the USDA. He says the rate of growth is quite a bit more than had been anticipated, but the market retains some volatility with buyers stepping in and out. Surprisingly, he said, the biggest gains in export demand come from Mexico.
"Incomes are moving up. Their economy seems to be getting a little bit better in parallel with the U.S. and they had sort of switched focus away from beef a little bit in recent years toward more pork product. It appears the Mexican market is coming back a little bit to beef," he says.
The domestic market, on the other hand, appears a little sluggish with buyers watching price trends closely.
"I think the domestic market especially at these record-high wholesale beef prices is being a little cautious, but doesn't appear to have eroded much at these high price levels."
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region 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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