Oklahoma Farm Report masthead graphic with wheat on the left and cattle on the right.
Howdy Neighbors!
Ron Hays, Director of Farm and Ranch Programming, Radio Oklahoma Ag Network  |  2401 Exchange Ave, Suite F, Oklahoma City, Ok 73108  |  (405) 601-9211

advertisements
   
   
   
   
   

Beef Buzz News


Economic Factors Create Hesitancy in Beef Plant Expansion Plans

Wed, 02 Nov 2022 11:03:33 CDT

Economic Factors Create Hesitancy in Beef Plant Expansion Plans During the pandemic, beef packers had more cattle to source than capacity, giving the packers the upper hand in negotiations with feedlots and increased revenue and profits compared to other parts of the beef pipeline. Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is visiting with Iowa State University Livestock Economist, Lee Schulz, about beef packers having second thoughts on plant expansion.

Many federal dollars were moved toward plant expansion and many plans were announced during the pandemic to increase that capacity. Schulz says now that those plans have been announced, there may be some rethinking going on.

“There has been a lot of publicly announced plans for beef packing capacity additions- and I call them additions because they are really two-fold: new plants and expansion of existing plants,” Schulz said. “First, we have got to remember that projects of this size, take a lot of time. There is a lot of initial planning that goes on in the follow-through.”

Many of these publicly announced plans for additions, Schulz said, pre-date the Biden administration committing a billion dollars of American Rescue Plan funds to this expansion of independent processing capacity.

“According to reports, maybe about 20,000 head per day of possible expansions,” Schulz said. “That is quite a bit when we realize we slaughter about 125,000 head or so a day.”

While the target for many of these federal dollars is for smaller plants that harvest a couple of animals a day at the most, Schulz said the larger plants are the ones having second thoughts.

“Some of these planned additions have already been paused indefinitely,” Schulz said. “Others that are still in the works have changed some timelines. Some probably will not come to fruition, and probably some new projects that we are not even talking about now will materialize.”

Schulz said many factors are influencing the pause on expansion for some plants, such as increases in material prices, interest rates, and labor availability.

“There are two job openings available for every unemployed person, and that is a statistic that the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses,” Schulz said. “So, when we look at the ability to operate these packing plants, and operational capacity is key there, that is really constrained by this labor market.”

Another big factor, Schulz said, is cattle supply.

“Supplies are holding right now, at least when we compare to year over year, but there is a lot of anticipation that we are going to see tighter supplies,” Schulz said. “There are forecasts over the next two years we could see a 10 percent decline in cattle numbers. As you look at the availability of cattle and the price of those cattle, I think that factors into decisions about packing capacity additions as well.”


Click the LISTEN BAR below to listen to Ron Hays and Lee Schulz talking about hesitancy in beef packing plant expansion.

The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is 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.


   

   

Listen to Ron Hays and Lee Schulz talk Packing Plant Expansion
right-click to download mp3

 

WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI

 

Beef News

  • January Cattle on Feed Report Three Percent Under Year Ago- Derrell Peel Says Tighter Supplies Will Be Around for Awhile  Mon, 23 Jan 2023 05:15:04 CST
  • Derrell Peel Talks Latest Cattle on Feed Report- Showing Fewer Cattle on Feed, Lighter Placements and Stronger Marketings.  Mon, 26 Dec 2022 08:19:00 CST
  • Kara Lee with Certified Angus Beef Tells Cattlemen 'Cut the Bull'  Fri, 23 Dec 2022 14:30:39 CST
  • Beef Checkoff Utilizes Digital Marketing Techniques to Interact with Consumers   Thu, 22 Dec 2022 16:02:51 CST
  • Beef Checkoff Research, Education, and Promotion Efforts Point Consumers to Beef  Wed, 21 Dec 2022 16:15:46 CST
  • OSU Economist Derrell Peel Expects US Beef Export Strength to Continue Into the New Year   Tue, 20 Dec 2022 08:00:35 CST
  • NPPC's Michael Formica Feeling Positive About Supreme Courts Upcoming Proposition 12 Decision  Mon, 05 Dec 2022 10:08:27 CST
  • NCBA Fights to Improve Marketing Options for Cattle Producers  Fri, 02 Dec 2022 09:58:28 CST
  • Chinese Consumers Continue to Grow Appetite for U.S. Beef  Thu, 01 Dec 2022 09:23:49 CST
  • Merck Creates Value for Producers and Consumers with Technology and Biopharmaceuticals   Wed, 30 Nov 2022 09:55:28 CST
  • NCBA’s Todd Wilkinson Ready to Fight Back Against Regulatory Overreach in the Cattle Industry   Tue, 29 Nov 2022 10:13:33 CST
  • NCBA and PLC Call ESA Listing Plan of Lesser Prairie Chicken Punitive for Cattle Producers in Southern Plains  Wed, 23 Nov 2022 14:51:02 CST
  • November Cattle on Feed Report Confirms October Pattern of Lower Placements and Tighter Cattle Numbers in Feedlots  Tue, 22 Nov 2022 05:07:02 CST
  • Turning the Corner- OSU's Derrell Peel Sees Tighter Cattle Inventories into 2023 in Latest Cattle on Feed Report  Mon, 21 Nov 2022 04:36:33 CST
  • Turning the Corner- OSU's Derrell Peel Sees Tighter Cattle Inventories into 2023 in Latest Cattle on Feed Report  Mon, 21 Nov 2022 04:27:40 CST
  • Midterm Elections to Set Stage for What Can Be Expected in 2023 Farm Bill  Mon, 07 Nov 2022 12:13:57 CST
  • USMEF's Dan Halstrom Remains Cautiously Optimistic about Strong Beef Demand Going Forward  Thu, 03 Nov 2022 09:35:46 CDT
  • Economic Factors Create Hesitancy in Beef Plant Expansion Plans  Wed, 02 Nov 2022 11:03:34 CDT
  • NCBA's Mike Simone Says Consumer Interest in Fake Meat is on the Decline  Tue, 01 Nov 2022 11:41:02 CDT
  • Beef Remains Valued Product for Consumers as it Allows Them to Stretch their Dollar  Mon, 31 Oct 2022 09:15:56 CDT
  • Hugh Aljoe Provides Methods to Begin and Maintain Good Land Stewardship  Fri, 28 Oct 2022 09:30:13 CDT
  • Implement Soil Health Practices Now to Increase Forage Production when Rains Come  Thu, 27 Oct 2022 15:14:07 CDT
  • Third Beef. It's What's For Dinner. 300 Promotes the Beef Industry on a National Level  Wed, 26 Oct 2022 15:32:23 CDT
  • Latest Cattle on Feed Report from USDA Implies Fewer Pounds of Beef Available in 2023   Tue, 25 Oct 2022 10:17:53 CDT
  • OSU's Derrell Peel- Lower Placements and Smaller On Feed Number Highlight October Cattle on Feed Report  Sun, 23 Oct 2022 12:45:37 CDT
  • Beef Checkoff Research Continues to Share Beef Sustainability Story with Consumers  Fri, 21 Oct 2022 09:23:36 CDT
  • Beef Checkoff Research Works to Ensure Consumers Beef is a Product They Can Trust  Thu, 20 Oct 2022 13:44:44 CDT
  • Odds for Significant Wheat Pasture Going Lower Daily in the Southern Plains  Wed, 19 Oct 2022 14:35:46 CDT
  • NCBA Weighs in on California's Proposition 12   Tue, 18 Oct 2022 11:32:24 CDT
  • 2022 Stockyards Steak Out Takes Oklahoma Beef to the Next Level  Mon, 17 Oct 2022 11:09:07 CDT
  • Holding Onto Your Cow Herd a Little Longer is Projected to Pay Off, says Randy Blach  Fri, 14 Oct 2022 08:14:05 CDT
  • Randy Blach Confident in Better Cattle Market Conditions Down the Road  Thu, 13 Oct 2022 09:43:02 CDT
  • No Imports or Exports Would Result in a Smaller U.S. Beef Cattle Industry  Wed, 12 Oct 2022 16:11:15 CDT
  • Derrell Peel Explains Why International Trade of Beef is Valuable  Tue, 11 Oct 2022 08:19:29 CDT
  • Animal Agriculture Hopeful for a Win as U.S. Supreme Court Looks at California's Proposition 12   Mon, 10 Oct 2022 09:26:17 CDT

  •  

       

    Ron salutes our daily email sponsors!

    Oklahoma Beef council Oklahoma Ag Credit Oklahoma Farm Bureau National Livestock Credit Ag Mediation Program P&K Equipment Oklahoma City Farm Show Union Mutual Stillwater Milling Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association KIS FUTURES, INC.
       
       
       
       
       

    Search OklahomaFarmReport.com

    © 2008-2024 Oklahoma Farm Report
    Email Ron   |   Newsletter Signup   |    Current Spots   |    Program Links

    WebReady powered by WireReady® Inc.