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MARKETING...

meat case

2017 Retail and Wholesale Beef Prices

Wholesale beef product markets continue to adjust following unusual price relationships from record-high prices in late 2014 through early 2016.

Prices for “all fresh retail beef” were $5.833 per pound (lb.) in July, up 1.0% year over year. This price category has increased each month this year since January.


July Choice beef prices were $6.10 per lb., down from the June level of $6.207 per lb., but fractionally higher than July 2016.


The all-fresh-retail-beef price increased relative to the broiler composite retail price in July. The current ratio of retail-beef-to-broiler prices is equal to the record level set in July 2015. The retail-beef-to-pork price ratio is also holding steady at levels near the record during the high prices of 2014 into 2016 and, like the beef-to-broiler retail price ratio, are at levels well above historical ratios prior to 2014. Read more.


In the Cattle Markets

Crop report helps out livestock.

USDA released its crop report Aug. 10 with some real surprises for the trade. What was bad for the crop side was good for livestock producers.


Starting with corn, the report indicated a crop of 14.2 billion bushels (bu.), tied for the second largest on record (2014), behind only 2015’s 15.1-billion-bu. crop. The estimated average yield was 169.5 bu. per acre. While yields were estimated to be below last year’s in the central and western Corn Belt, yields were higher across the South and Northeast. Record-high yields were estimated in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York. The drought-hit states of North and South Dakota indicated yields 37 bu. and 21 bu. below last year, respectively. Read more.


Money that Matters

CAB premiums grow, motivate higher-quality beef production.

Quality cattle are so commonplace they’re no longer worth a reward, right? Wrong.


The market still pays more for the best, even as supplies grow. USDA data for the first half of 2017 puts the average Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) brand grid premium at $4.73 per hundredweight (cwt.), on track to exceed $50 million for the year.


CAB acceptance rates of nearly 30%, compared to typical historic rates of 17%-18% may drive perceptions that market premiums have dried up. Numbers show that’s not the case. Read more.


New Beef WISE Study

New research shows lean beef can help people lose weight while maintaining lean muscle and supporting a healthy heart.

New research published in Obesity Science & Practice shows that lean beef, as part of a healthy and higher-protein diet, can help people lose weight while maintaining muscle and a healthy heart. 1


“The Beef WISE Study: Beef’s Role in Weight Improvement, Satisfaction, and Energy," conducted at the University of Colorado Anschutz Health and Wellness Center with a research grant from the beef checkoff, adds to the growing body of evidence demonstrating lean beef can contribute to a healthy weight loss diet. Read more.



Ginette Gottswiller

The Source

Cell phone service may not be top notch, but AngusSource customer service won’t make you yell at your phone.

“Hello? Hello? What? I can’t understand you.”


Every time I get in a tractor my brother calls with another “chore” that needs done, but cell service in our area is hit and miss most days, and he refuses to text. He reminds me of a few producers.


“I can’t see it made me any money the time I enrolled, so why waste my time?” is a common complaint I hear.


Do you vaccinate and pour your cows? I do, because I don’t want to take the risk of disease, parasites or decreased weight gain. However, some find the investment not worth it. Read more.


Detecting Defects Hidden in Hides

Ultrasonic waves provide means of detecting defects, assessing quality.

An Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist has found a way to find hidden defects in the animal hides that become our footwear, sporting goods, fashion accessories and other leather goods.


About 90% of the 32 million hides produced by the meat industry in the United States each year are exported. Before they are sold in international markets, they are visually inspected, weighed and given a numeric grade. Many hides, however, have hidden defects caused by insect bites, abrasions, scars and natural rough spots.


Processing and selling animal hides is a $2-billion industry in the United States, and the lack of any technology for measuring defects and characterizing quality often leads to disputes after the hides are sold, states Stephen Sothmann, president of the U.S. Hide, Skin and Leather Association, which represents leather goods manufacturers and meatpackers, processors and traders who export hides. Read more.


Big-picture Focus Guides Farm, CAB

CAB Board chairman takes long-term strategic focus.

Don Schiefelbein’s role on his family’s registered Angus farm near Kimball, Minn., is all about managerial and financial oversight. That’s why he’s comfortable looking out for the Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) brand’s future while serving as chairman of its board of directors.


“It’s important that we continue to push the envelope,” Schiefelbein says, “and make sure what was successful back in 1978 when we began continues to be what makes us successful as we go forward.” Read more.


Angus Calendar

To view the Angus Calendar, a comprehensive list of Angus sales, click here.












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