The summer doldrums seem to be hitting the U.S. cattle markets this week, with trades coming in at around $2 less than last week, whereas the choice cutout held steady.
While it may feel as though cutout is struggling a bit, Anne Wasko, of Gateway Livestock Exchange, reminds us in this week’s Beef Market Update that it is still $10 over where it was last year, setting a record high.
Here at home, the Western Canada fat cattle market is holding steady and solid. The real news in Canada, though, is in carcass weights.
Last week’s steer weight was 916 pounds, which is 19 pounds over last year and 23 pounds over the five-year average. Wasko expresses concern about continuing to put record weights on top of record weights. While the beef has been moving so far, it has been a bit of a weight on the market.
One of the interesting things about the way that the Canadian market has been playing out is that while carcass weights are up, in July the total cattle slaughter for the country was six per cent lower than last year. Even with slaughter numbers lower, the total beef tonnage production is only down two pre cent. This is being mirrored south of the border as well, says Wasko.
Listen to the whole report to hear more of the markets and Wasko’s predictions for the upcoming cattle inventory reports.
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