Beef Market Update: The cost of feeding cattle spikes higher, as unknowns mount

by

As the situation continues to unravel in Ukraine, many in the agricultural industry are following the markets, and trying to get a handle on the impacts. This week’s Beef Market Update is no different.

Anne Wasko of the Gateway Livestock Exchange says we have often talked about uncertainty and volatility in the last few years — but the current market situation really puts those words in a new extreme.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow or tonight, or how long it’s going to last. So the markets are reacting in that same extremely volatile way,” Wasko says. “And you know, we know Ukraine’s a key corn exporter in the world, and so it has significant impacts on our key feed for cattle. That’s I guess what it comes down to in terms of we just don’t know what’s going to happen to corn prices, and cost of grain, and therefore the price of cattle.”

And this is only half of the problem — cattle on feed numbers are higher than ever, and before all of this happened with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we were short on feed supplies to begin with.

“It’s a huge problem when that supply chain has been so fragile anyways. To have any kind of flicker there and some insecurity, that is just going to create lots and lots of concern and angst,” says Wasko.

Check out the full episode of the Beef Market Update, here:

Related:

Wheat pushes higher as geopolitical tensions rise; soybeans buoyed by soil complex fundamentals

Pay attention to duration risk in market fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Wake up with RealAgriculture

Subscribe to our daily newsletters to keep you up-to-date with our latest coverage every morning.

Wake up with RealAgriculture

Other Episodes

Beef Market Update (view all)Season 14 (2022) Episode 20
Episodes:

Please register to read and comment.

 

Register for a RealAgriculture account to manage your Shortcut menu instead of the default.

Register