Livestock
20Nov

What is Behind the Widening Choice-Select Spread?

FED CATTLE: Fed cattle traded $3 to $4 lower compared to last week on a live basis. Prices on a live basis were mainly $118 to $120 while dressed prices were mainly $188 to $190. The 5-area weighted average prices thru Thursday were $119.34 live, down $3.71 from last week and $189.41 dressed, down $2.65 from a week ago. A year ago prices were $107.92 live and $169.92 dressed. Cash live cattle trade occurred early again this week as softer futures markets...

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17Nov

Nation's 14th Largest Cow-Calf Ranch Ceases Operations, Focuses on Citus

The 14th largest cow-calf operation is getting out of the cattle business to concentrate on citrus growing. Alico Inc., a large agribusiness company in Florida, announced on Nov. 16 the company plans to cease its direct cattle operations at Alico Ranch by the end of the year. The majority of Alico’s grazing land is found in Hendry County, with some in Collier County. A total of 71,000 acres is listed in the Conservation and Environmental Resources portion of Alico’s holdings. “The ranch...

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16Nov

Farmers Need More Collateral to Secure a Loan

The latest Rural Mainstreet Index (RMI) continues to be a broken record for ag bankers. The November reading fell below growth neutral, a sign of the stress in farm country. Professor Ernie Goss of Creighton University helps author the survey. He says the November reading fell to 44.7, down from the 45.3 reading the RMI posted in October. “Since peaking in 2013, farm commodity prices have declined by approximately 17 percent and U.S. farm income has fallen for four straight years,”...

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16Nov

Pork Industry Adds Packing Capacity

Pork producers are optimistic about the future and for good reason. In a short one-and-a-half years, the industry has increased harvesting and processing capacity from 116.2 million hogs annually to almost 130.4 million head, according to USDA. A full 6% of the increase came online in September, when a Clemens Foods plant opened for business in Coldwater, Mich., with capacity of 8,000 head per day and a Triumph-Seaboard Foods plant started up in Sioux City, Iowa, to process 10,500 head daily. Within...

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14Nov

Better Than Anticipated Cow-Calf Returns in 2017

Cattle prices during the fourth quarter of 2017 were significantly stronger than expected. Higher prices caused 2017's calculated cow-calf return over cash costs plus pasture rent to be revised up. In fact, earlier in 2017, the forecast was for returns to be negative, but they actually will be positive. Since the mid-1970's, the Livestock Marketing Information Center (LMIC) has estimated annual cow-calf returns based on a typical commercial full-time spring calving and fall weaning operation. Those estimates are not survey-based and...

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