Marketing Decisions Postweaning
Factors to consider when making culling decisions.
When culling cows, it is important to have a plan, and this should include pregnancy testing and closely evaluating every cow. Neal and Amanda Sorenson of Powder River Angus are fifth-generation ranchers, raising registered Angus near Spotted Horse, Wyo. Extensive culling is an important part of their breeding program.
Pondering Dressing Percent
The effect of dressing percent on cull-cow marketing.
October is often the month of calf weaning and cow culling for spring-calving herds. Cull cows represent about 20% of the gross income in commercial cow-calf operations. Understanding the major factors affecting cull-cow prices is important to the bottom line. Remember, cull cows that are destined to go to the packing house are graded by their fleshiness.
U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement
Bilateral agreement signed Sept. 25, reduces tariffs on trade between two countries.
The U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement will provide America’s farmers and ranchers enhanced market access in the United States' third-largest agricultural export market. When implemented, this agreement will enable American producers to compete more effectively with countries that currently have preferential tariffs in the Japanese market. The deal will provide U.S. farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses with market access for high-quality U.S. food and agricultural products to 127 million Japanese consumers.
The Source
Control the controllables.
There is a lot of news in the cattle industry today. You do not have to read very much or very often to see that there is a lot going on that affects the prices we receive for our cattle. Whether it is packing plant fires, export markets, supply and demand, weather or crop reports, it seems every day brings a new challenge.
The New [Dis]order in Today’s Markets
Cattle ranchers have one of the most positive outlooks.
“Economic and political order has become disorder,” said AgResource President Dan Basse in market analysis comments presented at the 2019 Feeding Quality Forum in Amarillo, Texas.
In one-third of the world’s economies today, Germany included, banks charge you to keep money in savings, Basse observed.
In the Cattle Markets
African Swine Fever has an impact on the beef industry.
By now most livestock producers have heard of African Swine Fever (ASF), the highly contagious disease with no known vaccine that is devastating the hog herd in China. ASF was first detected in China in August 2018 and has since spread to every mainland Chinese province, as well as Hong Kong. China’s hog herd has shrunk 25%-50% (depending on which Chinese agency is reporting the numbers). The decline in pork production, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, is decidedly smaller and estimated at 20%.
Checkoff 2020 Plan of Action
Beef Promotion Operating Committee approves fiscal year 2020 checkoff plan of work.
The Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) will invest approximately $40.9 million into programs of beef promotion, research, consumer information, industry information, foreign marketing and producer communications during fiscal 2020, subject to USDA approval.
