Market Summary

Slaughter cows and bulls steady to $5 higher. This market is hanging in there nicely. Calf prices up another $15-20 cents per pound. Looks like we’ve got about 2/3 of the price break back but I don’t think we’re going back to where we were. I think we see a steady to slightly improving market going forward. Investors have been spooked out of the market with all the government meddling and investment money in the cattle futures is the lowest it’s been since last April. Looks like they just don’t trust the market anymore and the risk of outside influences is just too much to invest too heavily. You can’t really blame them. The amount of money that was lost in 7 days is likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars. I’m old enough to remember the words of Ronald Reagan when he said that the most terrifying words in the English language were, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you”! Doesn’t seem to matter which government is in power anymore, they all want to mess around in my business. Anyway, we can’t do anything about that but it seems like the highs in the calf market are in but I can’t imagine a collapse either. The fundamentals of supply and demand haven’t changed. Calf numbers are the lowest in years, beef retail demand is solid, feedlots need cattle to fill pens. This market is on solid ground and will likely steady going forward. Have a good weekend. Ian