Middle meats for your Valentine
Here’s this week’s Meat Market Minute:
Last week live cattle traded steady with the previous week at $123. Production levels remain low compared to last year (602K vs. 639K) as packers keep working to regain market leverage and return to profitability. CAB-qualifying cattle numbers continued their upward trend in late January, climbing a half point to 22.25% acceptance.
Coming off three straight weeks of limited harvest, packers were able to push boxed values higher on limited inventories. Middle meats found strong support, especially early last week as buyers looked towards ribs and strips for Valentine’s Day needs. Although end meats were slightly higher, there was not as much demand there as for the middles.
Until we meat again,
-David
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