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Beef Buzz News

Data Trickling In Continues to Show Strong Cattle Markets, Derrell Peel Says

Fri, 25 Oct 2013 16:30:03 CDT

During the federal government shutdown, there was no USDA livestock data available. Now that the shutdown is over, the data is starting to trickle in says OSU Extension Livestock Economist Derrell Peel.


"We're confirming that cattle markets and beef markets, generally, continued to strengthen through the month of October. The boxed beef price in this last week or so has advanced pretty close to that $2 a pound mark. We briefly went above that last spring. That was an all-time record. We're going to move back above that for the balance of the year."


He says prices for cattle across the board are on their way up all the way from wheat pasture calves to feeder cattle. Demand is simply outstripping supply at this point.


"The wheat pasture is in pretty good shape. I think we will have some opportunities for wheat pasture that are better than we've had in recent years. I think the demand is coming on for the cattle now that it's pretty certain that we're going to have some winter grazing. And, so, the opportunities are there for producers to take advantage of that and put some weight on these cattle."


Despite high calf prices, Peel says the margins are still good and profits can be made feeding stocker calves with forage this winter.


Peel says he is still waiting for heifers-on-feed data to come in before he can make an accurate assessment of how the herd rebuilding process is going across the country. He says he does belief heifers are being set aside in this final quarter of the year and that will set the stage for further herd expansion next year.


He says the recent blizzard in the northern U.S. couldn't have come at a worse time.


"The blizzard in South Dakota and that area was, obviously, very devastating to those producers and it really couldn't have happened at a worse time of the year. We still have weaning calves on many of those ranches. We had summer stockers still out on pasture. And, of course, feedlot cattle were caught in that. So, it really hit at a very bad time. The numbers are still being determined in terms of the total number of animals that were involved. But, in the grand scheme of things, does it have a national market impact? Probably not. When you divide it up among the various classes of cattle, there's probably not going to be a national market impact." Peel says while there may not be a national impact, those producers will certainly notice a regional impact especially as they try to rebuild their herds.



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.


   
   

Derrell Peel says cattle markets will remain strong through the end of 2013. right-click to download mp3

 

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