Smaller, better harvest
Here’s this week’s Meat Market Minute:
Live cattle traded down last week amidst lower futures and reduced harvest numbers, marking the second consecutive week that live values dropped in unison with curbed federally inspected harvest. Production, at 589,000 head, marked the first time harvest has been below 600,000 on a non-holiday week since 2009.
Packers continue to pull hours for production in order to push margins towards the black. In doing so, they were able to slightly increase asking prices for all grades. Demand for CAB middle meats remained strong–ribs were under the most pressure as retailers increase their spot purchases for Superbowl featuring.
CAB acceptance rate returned to the path of improvement coming into 2012, rebounding from 19.1% the last week of the year to 21.8% in mid-January. The positive move comes as the entire herd improved grade and brought USDA Choice levels above 60%. That share had fallen significantly since September, for 14 consecutive weeks. The mid-January showing of 63% Choice in the mix and 3.6% Prime comes despite steers dominating the fed harvest, accounting for more than 64% for three weeks running.
Until we meat again,
-David
You may also like
Gardiners Highlight Service, Strength at Foodservice Leaders Summit
Mark Gardiner and his son, Cole, of Gardiner Angus Ranch offered a boots-on-the-ground perspective for CAB specialists attending the annual event, designed to deliver resources that help train foodservice teams and serve consumers at a higher level.
Making Sense of Supply, Pricing and Navigating the Market
Amid anticipated shifts in cattle supply and evolving market dynamics, CAB remains well-positioned to navigate the beef sales road ahead. Clint Walenciak addressed how producer profitability, strategic specification adjustments, and resilient demand will help stabilize the brand’s beef supply chain through herd size and pricing shifts in 2025 and beyond.
Thriving with Shrinking Supply
Even as the nation’s cow herd contracts, “more pounds” and “higher quality” have been common themes. Specific to commercial cattlemen: It still pays to focus on carcass merit, in addition to other economically relevant traits.