News Update
February 2, 2018
First-quarter Predictions
January kicked off with follow-through on late-December recovery of wholesale beef values. Spot market boxed-beef movement by the second week of the year lagged behind 2016, but sales for 22-day and longer delivery dates are respectably ahead of a year ago.
However, cutout prices are weakened into late January and the prior three years saw a noted decline through the middle of February. While fed-cattle numbers are slated to be a bit tighter near term, carcass weights are declining more slowly than typical from their early December highs.
Those did not seem so negative to prices until late December, but we’ve now seen steer weights for the week of Dec. 25 up 2 pounds (lb.) and heifers up 8 lb. compared to 12 months prior. Bear in mind these weights coincide with the early days of snow and extreme cold that continued into January with likely negative impacts to feedlot weight gains yet to be seen. It is with an eye on supply that we consider the very good likelihood of a lower cutout move into late January and early February.
Continue reading this Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.
Agriculture Secretary Regarding President Trump’s
State of the Union Address
Concerning President Donald J. Trump’s State of the Union Address, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said:
“President Trump’s unifying address to the nation recounted this administration’s impressive achievements in its first year, which have strengthened the economy for all Americans, including those who do the important work in the agriculture sector. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is already helping workers and will allow agricultural producers to invest more in their operations and their own families. President Trump’s optimistic vision for the nation includes massive investment in infrastructure, which will be a boon to a rural America that sorely needs such improvements. The president’s emphasis on fair trade gives me confidence that he will strike deals that benefit all parts of the American economy. Additionally, his focus on eliminating burdensome regulations is freeing up agricultural producers and removing obstacles to productivity. This is a president who has rural America and agriculture close to his heart, as his words and deeds clearly demonstrate.”
NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen Kicks off Spring Season
NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen television show kicks off its spring season at the 2018 Cattle Industry Convention and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Trade Show, Jan. 31-Feb. 3. While in Phoenix, Ariz., the Cattlemen to Cattlemen crew will be covering the event and reporting news about the 2018 NCBA policy priorities, new technologies from the NCBA Trade Show, cattle handling practices at the demo arena and much more.
This season will showcase news from Washington D.C., animal health and management, producer education, market news and day-in-the-life profiles of cattle producers from across the country. NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen is created by cattlemen for cattlemen and offers topics that are valuable for producers to use.
“Cattlemen to Cattlemen is one of the best ways NCBA can communicate with farmers and ranchers today,” said Craig Uden, NCBA president. “We are very proud of the value this television show brings to the beef industry.”
NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen airs Tuesday nights at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on RFD-TV. In addition, all episodes are available online at www.YouTube.com/cattlementocattlemen.
Read the full NCBA news release online.
Trade Shuffle Poses Risk for United States Beef Exports
While the U.S. beef industry is well positioned to capitalize on a growing global middle class and an improving economy, trade uncertainty could hamper the United States’ ability to capture market share in the coming years, according to a new report from CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange Division.
The U.S. beef herd is expanding, bolstered by low input costs, and so is the demand for beef around the world. However, approximately 80% of beef exports are sold to countries that could be affected by ongoing trade pact negotiations. Trade deals being negotiated or recently approved include the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS), and are either being renegotiated or the United States has dropped out of the agreement altogether.
“Beef production in the U.S. is on the rise, and export outlets have never been more important,” said Trevor Amen, industry analyst with CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange Division. “However, the U.S. is threatening to retreat from key trade deals and the U.S.’s beef exporting competitors are forging their own deals with major global beef importers.”
Learn more in the full CoBank release online.
TAHC Releases Kleberg County Fever Tick Quarantine Area
The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) and the USDA’s Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program (USDA CFTEP) released the Kleberg County Fever Tick Control Purpose Quarantine Area (CPQA) on Jan. 26, 2018.
The 17,397-acre CPQA was established by TAHC and USDA CFTEP in December 2014 after cattle fever ticks were discovered on cattle located on a Kleberg County premises epidemiologically linked to a highly infested premises in Cameron County.
The release of the Kleberg County CPQA comes after three years of systematic treatment and inspections. The release rescinds all movement restrictions, inspections and treatment requirements for livestock and wildlife in the area.
“TAHC is pleased to announce the successful surveillance and removal of cattle fever ticks in Kleberg County,” Andy Schwartz, TAHC executive director, said. “Though the fever tick outbreak is gaining ground along the Texas-Mexico border, the release of this CPQA is another small but significant step forward in our fever tick eradication efforts.”
Today, portions of nine Texas counties have infested CPQAs. The counties include Cameron, Live Oak, Hidalgo, Kinney, Maverick, Starr, Webb, Willacy and Zapata.
For more information, read the TAHC news release online.
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