Disease Traceability on Horizon

CattleTrace offers voluntary, industry-wide traceability option.

The beef industry desperately needs traceability. This blunt sentiment said by Brandon Depenbusch, vice president of cattle operations with Innovative Livestock Services, is shared by many.

It affects our export markets drastically. The market aftershock of the “cow that stole Christmas” in 2003 should have been a huge wakeup call, he points out, referring to the case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) discovered in the United States in December 2003.

In the Cattle Markets

The cull cow market is looking up.

Cull cow prices continued their slow increase into September. Prices in the Southern Plains reached their high of the year, so far, at $54.36 at the end of August. That was 12.5% higher than a year ago. There is good reason to think prices may continue to be above a year ago.

Effects of Aging on Beef

Research to evaluate the use of new mass spectrometry technology to determine tenderness, flavor and juiciness of beef in real time.

Americans who love their beef are always searching for the most tender, tastiest and juiciest cut of meat they can find. Beef producers are constantly striving to give consumers what they want.

Premium Beef Decline Pushes Incentives

More cattle have graded Select this summer than last.

An abnormally wide Choice-Select boxed beef price spread was driven primarily by unexpectedly strong rib demand in the month of July. The Choice premium has remained very strong, at or above $20 per hundredweight for a period of 11 weeks now (on. Sept. 11), according to Urner Barry data. That unseasonal July demand gave way to an “August to remember” from a boxed-beef market standpoint, furthering the quality premium to Select.

Convenient Protein

Throughout the world, convenience stores are a rapidly growing venue for U.S. red meat.

The desire for work-life balance and prepackaged meals requiring little or no kitchen time is leading consumers around the world to a surprising new destination for breakfast, lunch and dinner: the neighborhood convenience store. We’re not just talking about beef jerky and pepperoni sticks.