06/21/05 Analyst on cattle on feed report

American Rancher June 21, 2005 After studying USDA's recent Cattle on Feed Report, department livestock analyst Shayle Shagum sees pressure for fed cattle prices later this year. Shagum: "One thing those numbers point to is that there are going to be a lot of cattle coming out of feedlots during the late fall which will probably have some price depressing impact on beef prices, cattle prices." Shagum says that during May you had more animals being placed into feedlots than being sold out of them, but fewer animals going in than had been expected. Shagum: "What we saw was placements down about six percent during May. Marketings were also down about one percent from a year earlier during the month which led us to one feed numbers about one percent higher than a year ago." Cattle going into feedlots were of heavier weight than ususal having had some decent forage and pasture compared to recent years. Those cattle will be marketed a bit sooner than usual sending prices this fall to what Shagum says will probably average in the low to mid $80 a hundredweight range. In recent weeks prices were up in the low $90s. Shagum says there are several uncertainties surrounding the cattle market right now, the Canadian border situation, reopening the Japanese market, and; Shagum: "Obviously the recent news about the potential news about the potential positive case of BSE is causing people to take a wait and see attitude until they know for sure if the tests were positive or negative." I'm Bob Hoff.