Feedlot Fundamentals Challenge Summer Quality Grade
Date: May 18 2022
CAB InsiderHigher feed costs and challenging summer breakevens may cause carcass outcomes to continue underperforming specific to marbling and premium beef production.
Category: CAB Insider
Fed Cattle Market Chasing Grade
Date: May 02 2022
CAB InsiderFewer carcasses in the Prime grade have not resulted in a larger share in Premium Choice. USDA data shows the percentage of Choice carcasses certified for Premium Choice branded beef programs is currently lower than in any of the past four years, albeit fractionally so.
Will the Prime Market Heat Up
Date: Apr 13 2022
CAB InsiderPrime trends continue to chart new territory for the most premium quality grade and current conditions show reason for incentive. A potential directional shift up and to the right on the premium chart is not out of the question.
Weights and Grade Trends
Date: Mar 31 2022
CAB InsiderThe redundancy of higher corn prices in the market discussion is bound to grow old, but it’s an important feature of the fed cattle trade now and will be moving forward. Cattle feeders have been more willing to sell finished cattle in recent weeks since corn prices have elevated the ration cost and feed conversion efficiency decreases at the end of the feeding period.
Certified Angus Beef Premiums Record High in 2021
Date: Mar 16 2022
CAB InsiderIn our 2019 report, the aggregate packer CAB premium total came in at $92 million. The 2021 total has seen that total nearly double in only two years, resulting in $182 million in CAB premiums.
Carcass Quality Ramping Up
Date: Mar 02 2022
CAB InsiderCertified Angus Beef carcasses surged during the second week of February posting the largest supply for that timeframe. All the important factors aligned to generate the rapid uptick in qualifying carcasses. Beginning with the fed cattle slaughter, that week featured 8.3% more harvested steers and heifers than the same week in 2021, when the previous record was posted.
Prime Grade Prompts Attention
Date: Feb 16 2022
CAB Insider & Cattle Markets & Grid Marketing & Premium PotentialPrime cutout values and grid premiums have been rich in the third and fourth quarters of the past two years. Yet the spillover into the first quarter this year shows that the market is reacting to the recently smaller availability, retreating back to the 2019 supply pace.
Cow Herd Implications
Date: Feb 02 2022
CAB InsiderThe USDA January 1 cow herd inventory, published this Monday, confirmed a 2% decline in the beef cow herd, along with a 1% decline in feeder cattle supplies. This is relatively in line with earlier estimates, although some had projected the beef cow decline fractionally smaller than the USDA number.
Slow Slaughter Impacts
Date: Jan 19 2022
CAB InsiderCattle supply is certainly not the issue, rather, it’s a COVID-induced absenteeism issue in many of the country’s packing plants. Packing plants experience increased worker absence, resulting in much smaller slaughter totals so far in January 2022.
Carcass Premium Structure Advanced in 2021
Date: Jan 05 2022
CAB InsiderCattle and beef market dynamics in the past year were nothing if not volatile, and in some ways, unprecedented. Supply chain imbalances and processing sector issues have been the focal point of beef price inflation in the past two years.