Winter Weather Affecting North American Cattle Farmers

This week, winter storms have been causing cattle deaths and losses in the US, CME analysts Steve Meyer and Len Steiner reported.

Initial reports suggest over two thousand head of cattle were lost in affected feedlots, but the dairy industry has also been affected, with reports of 30,000 head losses in New Mexico and Texas.

The analysts expect that the effects of winter weather, in addition to the seasonal decrease in cattle weights, will cause cattle weights to continue dropping.

“Although the winter weather is extremely hard on the producers and cattle it affected, it has probably lent some support to the recent uptick in prices on the cash and futures side of the cattle market.

“To support this confidence in the market, on Monday live and feeder futures opened down likely due to the Chinese stock market crash. Both the live and feeder contracts closed positive however, feeders up $2.225 and live cattle up $1.275 for the day,” Mr Meyer and Mr Steiner said - click here to read more.

In other news, Canadian beef and veal exports to South Korea have resumed after an investigation into a case of BSE was completed.

Canadian Meat Council Beef, Veal and Lamb Committee Chair, Matt Gibney, said: “Consisting of 50 million mostly middle income consumers, and a beef and veal import demand that totals $1.7 billion annually, the South Korean market is highly coveted by all of the globe’s major beef exporting nations.” - Read more.

In case you missed it: click here to read our holiday special, Top Ten Beef Features of 2015.