TheBeefSite Newsletter - 10 June 2009

Wednesday 10th June 2009

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Welcome to this week's newsletter

New Cracks Appear as US Beef Foundation Crumbles

In a meeting held last week in the office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard informed officials that urgent action is needed to restore the viability of the U.S. cattle industry. "USDA must first restore the integrity of the US cattle industry by restoring the health of our domestic cattle herd and the safety of the beef produced from our cattle," said Bullard. He may have a point.

This week, a series of CME reports showed gloomy forecasts for US beef. The first showed that despite significant reductions in US meat supplies, red meat prices generally are well below year ago levels. "Weak cattle prices are also having an impact on cow calf producers," it said. "Feeder cattle prices have declined as feedlots have become much more cautious in light of weak out-front fed cattle pricing as well as rising feed costs."

A later CME report said that Feeder cattle have been especially battered by prospects of higher corn prices in the coming months. "As feed prices escalate, feedlot purchases of feeder cattle tend to decline, especially when beef demand has yet to gain its footing."

Then later, a third CME report showed how recent wild fluctuations have badly hit beef packers just as they have for producers. "Packer margins have been very variable as packers try to handle the impacts of the world economic slowdown on both domestic and export demand."

Adam Anson

This Week's Feature Articles

We have 5 new features this week:

The State of the US Beef Industry Through R-CALF'S Eyes
The US cattle industry is contracting and its international market competitiveness has been weakened. Producers and consumers suffer at the hands of corporate industrialisation, but R-CALF USA believe it has developed a plan that will turn this whole situation around - Adam Anson reports for TheCattleSite.

Marketing Fed Cattle
Fed cattle are cattle at the completion of a finishing phase that are marketed for harvest, says this Mississippi State University Extension Services Report, by Dr. Jane A. Parish, Dr. Justin D. Rhinehart and Dr. John D. Anderson.

Meat Case Math
When cattlemen put an asking price on a bull or a load of calves, they set it as high as they can reasonably hope for a sale, writes Miranda Reiman, Certified Angus Beef.

One Needs to know Costs
Calving at a later date gives producers an increased opportunity to place cows on grass while the cow is either very pregnant or milking, writes Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, North Dakota State University Extension Service.

World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates - June 2009
Total US meat production for 2009 and 2010 is reduced from last month as higher forecast feed prices are expected to reduce prospects in the pork and broiler sectors, according to the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, produced by the USDA's World Agricultural Outlook Board.