“Despite a very positive outlook from the cow-calf producers’ perspective, it is not clear that larger cattle inventories are in fact economically sustainable from an overall industry profit perspective,” say USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) analysts in last week’s monthly Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook. Reasons for the ERS assessment include negative margins for cattle feeders and beef packers, as well as potential consumer resistance to higher retail beef prices....More

Cattle prices hit another all-time high last week on the Chicago Board of Trade as meatpackers struggle to secure supplies of animals from smaller herds....More

When leaders of the world’s largest agricultural products importer and the largest agricultural products exporter meet in constructive dialogue, only good outcomes are to be expected. That’s the assessment of Philip Seng, U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) president and CEO, after his participation in this week’s U.S./China High-Level Agricultural Symposium in Des Moines, IA. It was part of a five-day U.S. tour by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who is positioned to be the next leader of China....More

Futures prices for slaughter-ready cattle are up more than $1/cwt., to push the prices for delivery between February and August above $127/cwt. on the Chicago Board of Trade....More