Prime Sets Sail

It’s an interesting time in the beef business. We can’t speak about a specific aspect of the market or supply chain without drawing upon several other factors across the beef supply chain that influence the first.    A close inspection of boxed beef prices and the difference between quality grades and branded beef programs is a multi-factorial discussion. Supply and demand are the basic economic influencers on price. Yet, what we knew 15 years ago…

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Price Discovery in Cattle Markets

Researchers look at 20 years of data to determine effect of trends, future of industry. by Pat Melgares, Kansas State University Agricultural economists say short-term disruptions in the fed-cattle and beef industries have not changed longer-term motivations for how buyers and sellers establish prices for cattle. They have finished an exhaustive review of price discovery in the fed-cattle and beef industry during the past 20 years, which explains current ways of doing business…

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Marketing as Part of the Plan

Garth Ruff, Beef Cattle Field Specialist, OSU Extension (originally published in The Ohio Cattleman Early Fall, 2021 edition) Plan now to make the most of your spring calf crop While summer is winding down there is no shortage of things to keep a beef producer busy this time of year. Depending on the calving season of choice, we are either approaching fall calving or wrapping up the breeding season for some spring calving herds. There…

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USDA Announces $500 Million for Expanded Meat & Poultry Processing Capacity as Part of Efforts to Increase Competition, Level the Playing Field for Family Farmers and Ranchers, and Build a Better Food System

USDA is announcing it intends to make significant investments to expand processing capacity and increase competition in meat and poultry processing to make agricultural markets more accessible, fair, competitive, and resilient for American farmers and ranchers. This is one of several key steps that USDA will take to increase competition in agricultural markets, pursuant to President Biden’s Executive Order on promoting competition and as part of USDA efforts to build a more resilient…

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