US beef industry analyst Steve Kay, back at his Kay's Cuts column for Beef Central after three months off for hip surgery, writes that the period was "both revealing and sobering" for the market and its politics. The views are the writer's own.
Retail beef prices fell in August, lifting sales 1.2 percent: USDA's All Fresh beef price averaged US$9.64 a pound, still 4 to 5 percent above a year earlier and nearly five times the average chicken price of US$2.01. Cash cattle prices fell much more steeply. The Five-Area steer price averaged US$222 per hundredweight live in the second week of September, about 15 percent below early June, near-record levels, while the boxed beef cutout fell only 4.2 percent, letting packers return to positive margins. Kay says plant closures and packers' focus on margins keep slaughter historically low.
Slaughter in the fourth week of September was expected at 533,000 head but came in at about 484,000 after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in south-west Kansas caused high absenteeism at three large beef plants. The Texas Cattle Feeders, Kansas Livestock and Oklahoma Cattlemen's associations said such operations have a "massive chilling effect" on legal, skilled workers, delaying thousands of fed cattle and costing millions of dollars.
Kay also cites a Politico report that some White House officials are exploring scaling back the 90-day window for up to 300,000 tonnes of tariff-free beef imports announced in late August, mainly benefiting Brazil; the White House and USTR denied any official action. His conclusion is that the administration says it is helping producers and consumers, "but the opposite seems to be the case".
Source: Beef Central
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