Live Cattle Futures Rally

Last week, February 2011 Live Cattle futures rallied more than $3/cwt, led by fund buying in the middle of the week.

On Wednesday, nearby futures gained $1.75/cwt, which helped spurred sharply higher cash trade in the middle of the week. Active trade began on Wednesday at $163-164/cwt (dressed) or $103/cwt (live) in

Nebraska. Trade in the Southern Plains also developed on Wednesday, with Kansas sales averaging $102-103/cwt, and Texas $103-104/cwt.

Despite active trade volume on Wednesday, prices continued higher on Thursday. For the week, live sales in the 5-area market average $102.51/cwt, up $2.83 from the previous week. Dressed prices averaged $4.51/cwt higher at $163.68/cwt. Choice boxed beef averaged $3.33/cwt lower last week and the spread between the Choice and Select cutouts decreased $3.52/cwt.

In a holiday-shortened week for feeder cattle sales, stronger undertones were noted where sales were reported. In Nebraska, steer calf prices advanced more than $7/cwt last week, and yearling steer prices increased $2/cwt. Feeder cattle buyers continued to bid higher for the shortening supply of feeder cattle despite higher feedstuff prices.

For the week, corn prices were $0.21/bu higher, basis Omaha, NE. Prices for DDGS and WDGS were also up $8.80/ton and $3.10/ton, respectively, in Nebraska by the end of last week.

Source: Darrell R. Mark, Ph.D.,Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
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U.S. Pork, Beef Exports Surge in March

The pace of U.S. beef and pork exports increased sharply in March, driven by double-digit increases to leading markets Mexico, the China/Hong Kong region and South Korea, according to statistics released by the USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). U.S. pork exports reached their highest monthly total since October 2012: 209,704 metric tons (mt) valued at $606.7 million, increasing 29 percent in both volume and value over March 2013. Exports of U.S. beef rose 12 percent in volume to 93,380 mt valued at $516.2 million, an increase of 17 percent. When measured in proportion to overall U.S. beef and pork production, March exports also showed gains. Total pork exports (muscle cuts plus variety meat) equated to 31.5 percent of total U.S. pork production in March (26 percent of muscle cuts alone) versus 28 and 23.5 percent, respectively, a year ago. Beef exports accounted for 14 percent of total production and 11 percent of muscle cuts – up from 12 and 9 perce

Cotton Market Declines

As cotton and cotton-related products are discretionary items, COVID-19 has significantly impacted demand for cotton. The greatest decline in consumption has been observed in China and India. Retail sales in clothing and clothing accessories in the U.S. experienced an 87% decline in April from the previous year. With the anticipation of a decline in consumers’ consumption of apparel, the recovery of the spinning industry is anticipated to be slow. Slightly lower production, reduced consumption and higher beginning and ending stocks are projected for the 2020 cotton crop globally. World cotton production in 2020 is forecast at 118.7 million bales, 3% (4.2 million bales) below the previous year. Global cotton mill use is forecast at 114.4 million bales in 2020, 11.5% (12 million bales) above 2019, but still significantly lower than 2017 and 2018 levels. The world ending stocks are also projected at 104.7 million bales, the second-highest level on record. U.S. cotton production i

Pork Exports Still Down

U.S. beef exports remained on a record-shattering value pace in October, according to data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). October pork exports trended seasonally higher compared to recent months but were still below the results posted in October 2017. Lamb export volume in October more than doubled year-over-year, while value increased nearly 50 percent. October pork export volume was 207,725 mt, the largest since May but still 2 percent lower year-over-year, reflecting smaller variety meat exports. Export value ($536.5 million) was also the largest since May but still down 5 percent from a year ago. For January through October, pork exports were 1 percent above last year’s record pace at 2.02 million mt, while value was also up 1 percent to $5.33 billion. For pork muscle cuts only, January-October exports increased 5 percent from a year ago in volume (1.63 million mt), valued at $4.43 billion (up 2 percent). Source: U.S. Meat Export Fed

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