The Farmer's Weblog
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Saturday, November 2, 2002 |
Feeder cattle are basically going with the live cattle market with corn waiting for new reports before it is going to make any significant moves. Live cattle futures are trading lower on Tuesday and so are the feeder cattle. Most of the feeder cattle futures allow a legitimate trend line if you hook the late July and early October lows, and we now have last week's high as resistance, which is up around $82.80 on the November contract. One reasonable approach is just to wait and let the market move out of this triangle one way or the other. I am always inclined to sell rallies toward the highs as compared to waiting for closes below uptrend lines because it tends to get prices established higher over time.
6:00:30 PM
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Last week, slaughter cattle prices were $1 higher in the southern plains, with the bulk of the trade occurring at $67. In the north, slaughter cattle prices were over $2 higher, at $105 (dressed weight). Boxed beef prices also finished the week nearly $2 higher. Feeder cattle prices in Nebraska were $1-2 higher than the previous week. In the southern plains, feeder cattle prices were somewhat higher for yearlings, but were lower for calves. Wet and wintery weather conditions this past week in southern Kansas and Okalahoma temporarily slowed demand for calves to run on wheat pasture.
5:33:38 PM
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As the holiday season nears the question on many consumers minds as they stroll down the market aisles is what to serve for the holiday meal. Depending on family traditions, there are many attractively priced options available: ham, beef rib roast, turkey, and leg of lamb. Record large supplies of beef, pork, and poultry this year have resulted in rather low wholesale market prices. So, consumers should watch for retailers to offer very appealing specials.
5:30:10 PM
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The Canadian hog industry is undergoing a slowdown in growth due to lower U.S. market prices coupled with increasing feed costs brought on by drought. As of October 1, 1.4 million head of hogs were on farms according to the Statistics Canada quarterly report. That was 2.3 percent above the 2001 third quarter inventory, however compared to the 2000 and 2001 inventory data the rate of increase in Canadian hog numbers was slowing. Earlier years posted annual growth rates of 6 and 5 percent as of October 1st. Despite the larger breeding herd, the yearly increase in sows and gilts numbers has declined since January when it was 7 percent larger. In addition, the increase in July-September farrowings and fourth quarter intended farrowings are much less than a year earlier.
5:27:51 PM
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On Friday October 18th, USDA-NASS released two major reports; one supported higher cattle prices ahead, but the other report provided some cautionary data. The monthly Cattle on Feed report showed that the number of cattle on-feed remained well below a year ago and placements were below expectations, supporting ideas for higher fed cattle prices ahead. However, the monthly Cold Storage report showed huge amounts of meat and poultry are in frozen stocks.
5:25:31 PM
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