USDA released its monthly Cattle on Feed report today; the inventory of cattle and calves on feed on feedlots with 1,000 head capacity or more on 1 March was 11.6 million, or 96 percent of March 2022. The numbers were mostly in line with expectations, so the report is mostly neutral for cattle prices. However, as WPI mentioned yesterday, there is a lot riding on retail beef demand.
This is the sixth consecutive month where on-feed inventories are lower than year-ago levels, which will be a trend for most of the rest of 2023 – if not all of the year.
The average daily marketings in February 2023 were 91,316 head based on 19 days; that compares to 92,350 in January on 20 days. Marketings as a percent of inventory was 14.9 percent;...
What You Need to Know Today: Russia rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, including a proposal to halt attacks on civilian shipping that could help restore grain flows from Ukrainian ports. Tyson Foods announced plans to permanently close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing facili...
The big news in the cattle markets yesterday was Tyson Foods’ move to close two more beef plants. One of them, the Joslin, Illinois, plant was shuttered immediately after the announcement. The other, in Eagle Mountain, Utah, is a case-ready plant that does not slaughter cattle. Tyson also...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday. In July, the CPI rose 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 3.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy, or the “core” infla...