Loin and Shoulder Increase
One of the top stories lately has been improving cattle prices. For example, Boise-Fed cattle prices improved for the fifth consecutive week with the five-market weighted average live price averaging $88.91 per hundredweight. I called Tom McDonnel of the Idaho Cattle Association who’s a great guy and really smart, to discuss this. Listen to his explanation. “You have to remember, you take the shoulder and the cheaper cuts on it and as a percentage of the animal, it has more impact on carcass price. For example 1% increase in loin prices does not do as much for the total carcass value as a 1% increase in the value of the shoulder because the shoulder is so much more of the animal. Those increases in prices on those other cuts are keeping our cut out value up. That’s what I theorize is happening.”
