On this episode of Weekly Livestock Market Update, Brownfield's Meghan Grebner talks with University of Kentucky ag economist Kenny Burdine about cold storage and trade.
Market highlights:
The 5-market average fed steer price was down by about $1.50 this week, averaging $198 as of Friday morning. Volume was light, but the live cattle board was down today.
February live cattle futures prices were virtually unchanged, closing Friday at $197.73.
Choice boxed beef price improved by about $1 per cwt, coming in just under $312.
March feeder cattle futures prices gained $7 from last week and closed today at $274.90.
The national base hog carcass price was off by less than $1 at $86.81 for the week.
Pork cutout values were essentially unchanged at $99.02 per cwt.
April lean hog futures were down this week, losing almost $4 and closing today at $84.07.
Weekly Slaughter:
Cattle slaughter was estimated down 0.5% from last week at 566,000 head. That remains down pretty sharply year-to-date.
Hog slaughter was virtually flat with last week at 2.54 million head, but also down pretty sharply year-to-date.
Another item is interest is calf slaughter, which is down more than 30% year-over-year to date.
Cold Storage:
January frozen beef supplies up 3% from December, but essentially unchanged from January 2024.
Frozen pork supplies up 3% from December, but down 11% from last year.
Bellies remain one of the more interesting items in the report – up 24% from last month, but 39% below last year
Other notes:
Last weekly data on live cattle imports from Mexico were from the third week of February. For perspective, this quantity was about 26% of the average during 2024.
Tariff uncertainties continue – the potential for retaliatory tariffs remains and uncertainty in the market.
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