The Farmer's Weblog
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Monday, June 9, 2003 |
A plan is in the works to build the West's largest cow town, a nearly 2,000-acre gated community in the Mojave Desert where 600 dairy farmers and their families would live alongside about 90,000 cattle.
2:03:45 PM
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PIERRE -- Within a couple of years, South Dakota ranchers will be able to stick a computer button in a calf's ear, implant a microchip into its body or take an image of its retina.
1:23:51 PM
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Should We Hold Our Breath, Or Breathe A Sigh Of Relief?
The events of the past two weeks have many in the cattle business wondering whether they should dare enjoy the soaring live cattle and beef prices or be bracing for the next ?boot? to fall. The expected seasonal decline in slaughter cattle prices, which would have put prices in the low to mid $70s, has not yet materialized. In fact, fed cattle are likely to trade at or above $80 this week. This is noteworthy in that fed cattle prices during the first week of June have only traded above $75 five times in the last thirty years. Prices have never surpassed $80 during the first week of June.
Both positive supply and demand factors are supporting current high price levels. Year-to-date beef production is about 1% lower than last year, carcass weights are 3% lighter than a year ago, and feeders are aggressively marketing cattle (year-to-date marketings as a percentage of the cattle on feed inventory are 5.6% higher than last year). The ban on Canadian beef imports for the past two weeks has also been supportive to U.S. cattle prices. On the demand side, retail choice and all fresh beef demand was up about 1.3% and 0.9%, respectively, in the first quarter of 2003 compared to first quarter 2002. Wholesale beef demand was also up 3.7% during the first three months of the year. Both have remained strong in recent months, and early indications are that the BSE case in Canada has not caused beef demand to falter in the last two weeks.
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