News Update
September 7, 2017
2017 Retail and Wholesale Beef Prices
Prices for “all fresh retail beef” were $5.833 per pound (lb.) in July, up 1.0% year over year. This price category has increased each month this year since January.
July Choice beef prices were $6.10 per lb., down from the June level of $6.207 per lb., but fractionally higher than July 2016.
The all-fresh-retail-beef price increased relative to the broiler composite retail price in July. The current ratio of retail-beef-to-broiler prices is equal to the record level set in July 2015. The retail-beef-to-pork price ratio is also holding steady at levels near the record during the high prices of 2014 into 2016 and, like the beef-to-broiler retail price ratio, are at levels well above historical ratios prior to 2014.
Wholesale cutout values have dropped sharply in the past two months, with Choice cutout values down to a weekly average of $197.66 per hundredweight (cwt.) in mid-August after climbing to a stronger-than-expected seasonal peak of $250.86 per cwt. in mid-June. Choice beef prices have struggled to find a summer bottom, with ample supplies and summer heat weighing on beef markets.
Continue reading this Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.
U.S. Grain Council Statement On
End Of Vietnam Suspension Of U.S. DDGS
Vietnam will lift its suspension of U.S. distillers’ dried grains with solubles (DDGS) imports and ease fumigation requirements for U.S. corn and wheat imports:
As of Sept. 1, import permits will be issued for U.S. DDGS and new phosphine fumigation protocols will be acceptable for shipments of U.S. corn, DDGS and wheat.
Since the suspension on imports was put in place late last year, the U.S. Grains Council has worked closely with industry and government in the United States and in Vietnam to find a resolution to this issue. This intense effort was strongly supported by the USDA’s leadership, officials in its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).
Vietnam is one of the fastest growing feed markets in the world, and the disruptions and losses this issue caused reinforce the need for agreements that ensure open access and outline resolution processes for mutual concerns.
View the full news release online.
Agricultural Prices
The July Prices Received Index (Agricultural Production), at 95.3, decreased 2.9% from June 2017. At 86.3, the Crop Production Index decreased 1.1% and the Livestock Production Index, at 104.0, decreased 3.1%. Producers received lower prices for cattle, broilers and calves, but higher prices for market eggs, hogs and wheat. Compared with a year earlier, the Prices Received Index is up 5.3%. The Crop Production Index increased 2.1% and the Livestock Production Index 8.3%. In addition to prices, the indexes are influenced by the monthly mix of commodities producers market. Increased monthly movement of grapes, wheat, hay and cotton offset the decreased marketing of milk, oranges, cattle and broilers. The Food Commodities Index, at 100.5, is down 3.5% from the previous month but up 6.7% from July 2016.
The July Prices Paid Index for Commodities and Services, Interest, Taxes and Farm Wage Rates, at 107.0, is unchanged from June 2017 but is up 1.4% from July 2016. Lower prices in July for nitrogen, feeder cattle, potash & phosphate, and milk cows offset higher prices for concentrates, feed grains, LP gas and other services.
Workshop Helps Beginning Farmers, Ranchers,
Veterans Understand ABCs of USDA
Openings remain for a free Sept. 18 workshop to help beginning farmers, ranchers and veterans learn about resources offered by state and federal agencies.
University of Missouri (MU) Extension sponsors the workshop.
“Understanding the Alphabet Soup of USDA” workshop for beginning farmers and ranchers will be hosted 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18, at Follis Hall, Fredericktown, said Richard Proffer, MU Extension business development specialist. A session designed for military veterans will be from 2:30 p.m.-4 p.m.
USDA representatives from the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Farm Loan Programs and Rural Development, will provide information on how to access their agencies’ services, as will representatives from MU Extension and the Missouri AgrAbility Project.
A free lunch is served. Register by contacting Proffer at 573-243-3581 or profferrd@missouri.edu. You may also register at the MU Extension Center in Cape Girardeau County, 684 W. Jackson Trail, P.O. Box 408, Jackson, MO 63755.
MU Extension, through a grant from the USDA Office of Advocacy and Outreach to help veterans, Latinos and socially disadvantaged persons who want to farm, offers the program to increase agribusiness and enterprise development.
For more information, visit the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events.
MU Thompson Farm Field Day, Sept. 21,
Looks at Profitable Beef Cow Herds
Making profits from beef herds will be taught Sept. 21 at the MU Thompson Farm field day near Spickard, Mo.
Genetics, breeding, feeding and selling improve profits, say MU Extension specialists.
“For a change, the program will be in the evening,” says Rod Geisert, superintendent, Columbia. Sign-in opens at 3:30 p.m. and is followed by farm tours. “We hope farmers with off-farm jobs can attend,” Geisert says.
Talks begin at 6:15 p.m., with dinner at 7:15. Speakers won’t talk just profits. They look at the big picture of beef production.
Jared Decker, MU Extension geneticist, has a message for herd owners. “Profits are the most important trait for beef cows.”
Calving ease, weaning weight, carcass merit and other traits improve a herd. “Dollars count most at the end of the year,” says the beef specialist.
In the past, herd owners needed many expected progeny differences (EPDs) to guide breeding. Now one selection index, such as dollar beef ($B), blends many traits into one number.
Genetic guides get simpler, Decker says.
For more information, visit the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events.
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