News Update
June 14, 2016
Cattle Market Insight
After two years of record cattle prices, many cattlemen may be shaking their heads at current market conditions. CattleFax Senior Market Analyst Kevin Good says while the market may be lower than previous years, cow-calf producers are still in the driver’s seat. He offers an outlook for what the future market will bring.
“We need to recognize where we’re at from a market standpoint,” Good says. “We’re coming off a cycle high in late 2014, early 2015, all classes of cattle have been devalued roughly 30% to 40% from that peak.”
While prices are down, Good encourages cattlemen to look at the whole picture: “But at the same time, they’re at or above levels that we experienced in 2012 and 2013. So from a longer term perspective, prices are still historically good, but they will trend lower as we think about over the next couple of years from a cycle standpoint.”
Summer fed-cattle markets will probably come to rest in the $120 per hundredweight (cwt.) range, Good predicts, while the calf market could stay in the $170 per cwt. area.
For more of this interview, watch this week’s episode of The Angus Report online. The program also airs at 1:30 p.m. CST Saturday and 7:30 a.m. CST each Monday morning on RFD-TV.
Flooding Along the Brazos
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agent strike teams continue response efforts to help with hundreds of livestock and companion animals displaced by flooding along the Brazos River.
Two holding/shelter facilities and one Livestock Supply Point have been set up to handle the flow of livestock and companion animals displaced by recent floodwaters, according to John O’Connell, AgriLife Extension coastal and marine resources agent, Brazoria County.
The Brazoria County Fairgrounds is being utilized as the Livestock Supply Point, the hub for collection of hay, feed, water and other supplies for animals, ranging from cats and chickens to horses and cattle, he said. Donations such as square and round hay bales and water buckets are pouring in from the community and local producers to assist other producers who may be forced to wait to access forage for an extended time.
For more information, access the AgriLife news release online.
Trade Deals for Farmers and Ranchers
Kevin Paap, president of the Minnesota Farm Bureau and board member of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), described a litany of trade barriers faced by farmers and ranchers in a June 14 hearing of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee.
In response, Paap asked Congress to approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement while supporting ongoing negotiations toward a successful Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union.
AFBF estimates U.S. farmers and ranchers will gain $4.4 billion in yearly profits from passage of the TPP alone — profits that have taken on special importance during the ongoing farm downturn.
“Expanding our trade opportunities happens through tariff reduction and removal, and by the adoption of science-based standards for international agricultural and food trade,” said Paap, who also chairs AFBF’s Trade Advisory Committee.
To continue reading, view the AFBF news release online.
CAA Announces New Generation Breeder Development Program
At the Canadian Angus Association’s (CAA) 110th annual general meeting in Quebec City, Que., CEO Rob Smith announced the creation of the New Generation Breeder Development program. Nathan Marin of Radville, Sask., has been hired in a part-time capacity as the director of New Generation Breeder Development.
“After years of talking, thinking and brainstorming about the need for Angus, the cattle sector and, indeed, all of Canadian agriculture to focus on developing, mentoring and providing tools for production and market access to the next generation of producers, Canadian Angus is making it happen through our New Generation Breeder Development program,” Smith says.
For more information, view the CAA news release online.
Canadian Angus Foundation Announces Winners
The 2016 Robert C. McHaffie Junior Ambassador is Michaela Chalmers of Oro-Medonte, Ont. The Junior Stockman is Maguire Blair of Drake, Sask. Ryan Currie of Bristol, Que., and Shawn Birmingham of Brandon, Man., were both selected as 2016 Outstanding Young Angus Breeders. Awards were presented at the Canadian Angus Convention banquet Saturday night.
The Robert C. McHaffie Junior Ambassador program selects one Canadian Junior Angus Association (CJAA) member to be an ambassador for the Canadian Angus Association (CAA) at events across Canada and one international experience.
The Outstanding Young Angus Breeder Award recognizes an Angus breeder between the ages of 22 and 30 who has demonstrated a desire to stay involved in the Angus business for years to come based on their involvement within the breed up to this point in his or her career.
For more information, please view the CAA news release online.
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