It was a busy holiday week for BBQs both in Canada and the United States. The holidays, combined with a plant closure in Kansas, all amount to less beef being processed this week.
While there wasn’t a report from USDA on Thursday, markets closed Wednesday night with choice cutout at six and a half dollars higher than last week, the highest it’s been this year, says Anne Wasko with the Gateway Livestock Exchange on this week’s episode of the Beef Market Update.
Word of these high prices has made it to high places within the U.S. government, too, with President Joe Biden reaching out to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack this week asking why beef prices are so high.
North of the border, Statistics Canada released May export data which shows exports right in line with a year ago, however Wasko expects June to show more Ontario-fed cattle moving south due to the strike at Cargill’s Dunlop plant. The strike started May 27, and it was announced Thursday that a settlement offer has been reached and will be voted on this Saturday. News about that over the weekend will be released on RealAgriculture.com.
And of course we wouldn’t be farming if we didn’t talk about the weather. Rain has played a large part in keeping the auction marts quiet, says Wasko. After at least three years of pulling cattle off grass early due to drought, the abundance of pasture this year will likely see producers taking their time this year, she says.
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