The markets are volatile and could be described liked standing inside a hurricane at times.  Only this time the hurricane was real.  With Hurricane Sandy ripping through the east coast, the impacts on beef demand must be questioned. With the XL Foods hangover working its way out, feed yards and ranchers are trying to get… Read More

The recent meat recall at XL Foods is just another issue to provide adversity to the Canadian cattle industry.  With one of two Western Canadian packers being forced to deal with a meat recall the lift lines have pushed an already wide basis wider.   Additionally, the topic of a struggling pork industry has left… Read More

The US drought is capturing the attention of many people.  One of the groups that is majorly impacted by the drought but has been lost in this meteorological drama is the beef industry.  The US drought is playing a major role in the decision making of some beef producers and feedyards heading into the fall… Read More

This edition of the Beef Market Update is…….complicated. Let’s start with the things we expected. We knew those summer lows were coming and we knew that risk management would be extremely valuable to producers in this volatile market. We even expected a little bit of the unexpected, i.e. a recent case of BSE in California…. Read More

One of the questions on every producers mind is, “How long can these prices continue?” Looking at the demand side, we don’t see any real indication beside the seasonal dips that regularly occur. On the skeptical side however, whenever we have an extended run like this we have a tendency to wait for the other… Read More

If a person were to describe the overall mood of this year’s NCBA Conference, it would be descibed as price bullish and margin bearish. As we have mentioned before, it’s a cautious optimism for feeders and packers, which comes with a recognition of the volatility that producers have gone through and are also facing in the future…. Read More