Beef Prices Down in Idaho
You might be wondering about how cattlemen are handling the present beef market and what the latest accounting of feedlot inventories happens to be. The answer is very simple…too simple.
Make that very low numbers according to USDA livestock analyst Shayle Shagam. Cattle and calves in feedlots nationally are approximately 11.3 million per head which is down 6% from a year ago and lowest overall in 5 years. And with cattle feedlot inventories at very low levels, you would predict that cattle prices would be way up. Not so says Shagam. “We are looking at this weakening demand situation. Currently we have cattle selling in the mid to upper $70 range.”
Last year at this time it was $88-89 a hundredweight. According to Shagam, the picture isn’t particularly rosy, no matter what end of the business you’re in…cow-calf, feedlot, packers…
(Shagam)”It doesn’t look good for anybody in any of the three sectors. Right now returns to cattle feeders are below break even. Packer margins had been high, until recently but we have seen them deteriorate as wholesale beef prices have slid. Cow-calf operators saw poor returns last year an d given the fact that feeder cattle prices are going to be pushed down this year, it’s probably going to be a while to for those returns to recover as well.”
