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Topics of Interest

Country-of-Origin Labeling

Information about country-of-origin labeling, and what it means for cattlemen.


Angus International

A platform for global information sharing spanning the worldwide Angus industry.


Cattle Industry Annual Convention and NCBA Trade Show


 


U.S. Beef Demand Drivers and Enhancement Opportunities

This publication uses national, quarterly data to examine U.S. meat demand. The analysis provides insights into beef demand and topics affecting demand.

Results showed beef demand is sensitive to the strength of the U.S. economy, and that consumers respond to information about beef and nutrition. Results also suggest beef demand suffered as consumers’ demand for more convenient meat products increased. Consumers are also sensitive to food safety.
Read more.




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Angus Productions Inc.

February 22, 2010


MARKETING...

Sara Snider
Sara Snider

The Source

No NAIS. What now?

For the 64% of producers who chose not to participate in the voluntary system, the Feb. 5, 2010, announcement that the struggling National Animal Identification System (NAIS) would undergo a major overhaul may not be a big surprise.

During the NAIS listening tour and online comment period, the vast majority of comments received were highly critical. Among the concerns voiced by producers were confidentiality, liability, cost, privacy and religion. To date more than $120 million has been spent on existing animal disease traceability framework. With so much money spent, minimal participation and heated opposition, a change to a more flexible, lower-cost, less-burdensome system was inevitable. Read more.


Weather Whoas Market

Weather affecting movement of cattle to harvest, prices.

U.S. Cow & Bull Supplies

Click on graph to see a larger version

Record-breaking snow storms across much of the Eastern United States have negatively affected the number of cows going to market in mid-February, leading to a sharp run-up in the price of grinding beef, Steve Meyer and Len Steiner reported Feb. 12 in The Daily Livesock Report. "We keep a running seven-day total (a week's supply) of daily cow and bull slaughter estimates, and the most recent reading put cow and bull slaughter levels below both 2009 and 2008 levels."

For the seven days ending Feb. 11, cow and bull harvest was estimated to be 119,000 head, some 12% lower than the comparable timeframe a year ago. In mid-January, bull and cow harvest was running as high as 150,000 head per week.

Cold weather conditions, lower carcass weights and the reduction in cow and bull harvest has provided some much needed support to live cattle futures. Lower overall beef supplies have pushed the nearby February live cattle contract past the $89 mark and nearby live cattle futures have gained more than 400 points since the start of the month.

That may be little consolation, however, to producers who have to contend with the challenges of keeping animals warm or packing plants that have had to reduce hours due to road closures and delayed orders. Some beef manufacturing plants along the South Atlantic and Mid Atlantic regions also had to reduce hours. For those who were still operating, getting loads in was particularly challenging.

In past years, manufacturers could turn to ample supplies of imported beef sitting in cold storage warehouses in Philadelphia or New Jersey. But the imported beef pipeline is stretched very thin these days, and the price of imported beef, which normally trades at a healthy discount to domestic product at this time of year, now is trading at par or even a premium to domestic product.

One negative from the snow storms has been the reduced foot traffic at foodservice establishments. However, retail beef sales have been brisk as consumers cleaned out supermarket shelves and meatcases in anticipation of the storm. One should never underestimate the appetite of a panicked public sitting home with 3 feet of snow outside and enough food to supply a small army.


 

Tim Petry

Tim Petry

In the Cattle Markets

Tim Petry provides a Northern Plains perspective on the U.S. cattle inventory.

Many areas in the Northern Plains cattle-producing region suffered drought issues during much of the past decade, forcing liquidation of beef cow herds. Although normal moisture conditions returned to most of the Northern Plains in 2009, beef cow liquidation was still higher than the national average.

The USDA cattle inventory report indicated the U.S. beef cow inventory Jan. 1 was down 1.5% from the previous year. But beef cow numbers were reported to be down 2% in Montana, 3% in North Dakota and Wyoming, and 4% in Nebraska with South Dakota declining only slightly. Beef replacement heifers were also down more than the U.S. average of 1.7%. Replacements declined more than 3% in Nebraska and Wyoming, with 8% and 11.7% declines reported in North Dakota and Montana.

There are likely several reasons why additional liquidation in the Northern Plains occurred. Read more.


USMEF Positive On Exports

Year-end export totals show positive trends for U.S. pork, beef.

U.S. red meat exports finished 2009 on a positive note with healthy gains in volume over December of a year ago, positioning both beef and pork exports to start 2010 on an upward trend, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

Although 2009 year-end exports of both U.S. pork and beef were down compared to the prior year, U.S. exports equaled or bettered their main international competitors. Read more.


Consumer Desires Guide Cattle Plans

With so many brands and cuts of beef available in the grocery store, quality is more important than ever to the consumer. Good eating experiences and high-quality taste keep them coming back for more beef.

The link between beef quality and consumer satisfaction was a classroom topic in January, during Cattlemen's College at the Kentucky Cattlemen's Association annual convention in Lexington, Ky. An assistant vice president for supply with Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB), Mark McCully walked cattlemen through Meat Science 101 and shared related research. Read more.


Quality Cast

Dollars and sense from the Brand that Pays®

Each month, hear from the folks at Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) about the latest news from across the spectrum of the company's divisions.

This month, International Director Geoff Bednar provides an overview of the International Division and international markets for Certified Angus Beef. Click here to listen.


Kitchen Helping Farmers To Diversify, Add Value

Even though the farmer's market season technically is long past in Eastern Kentucky, a kitchen at the market location in London has not gone dormant.

Judith O'Bryan dreamed up the kitchen while at a Kentucky Women in Agriculture Conference several years ago. The family and consumer sciences Extension agent for the University of Kentucky (UK) Cooperative Extension Service in Laurel County knew the farmers in her area would be able to see a bigger profit from their crops if they had a place to craft value-added products. In most cases, that means using a certified kitchen. Read more.


Corn Crop Questions Affect Feedgrain Outlook

Questions about latest U.S. corn crop may persist for months to come.

In typical times, feedgrain producers and traders would have a good idea by now of how the previous year's corn production turned out. But, the past year has been anything but typical.

"Given winter conditions since late December, combined with high soil moisture levels in the central, northern and northwestern Corn Belt, it is unlikely that much corn harvest progress will have occurred in time for the March 31 USDA stocks report," said Dan O'Brien, Kansas State University (K-State) agricultural economist. "Because of the unusually fierce winter weather that kept some farmers from harvesting, the final tally on the 2009/2010 corn crop may not be certain until the June 30 grain stocks report. If that's the case, it could contribute to greater volatility than usual in the U.S. corn market this spring and summer." Read more.

 


Angus Calendar

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