Current Cattle Market Daily Headlines for Thursday, May 28, 2020

Mackenzie Johnston

6 years ago

U.S., China trade tensions could bubble over

There is legitimate concern the phase one deal could unravel as tensions increase between the U.S. and China.
On Tuesday, President Trump said he is ready to take action against China over its effort to impose national security laws on Hong Kong.
DTN lead analyst, Todd Hultman, says a trade dispute with China is the number one problem for commodity prices the White House could actually do something about.
Hultman realizes that the solution to this problem won’t be easy, but our decisions here in the U.S. are making it extremely difficult to get trade going again with China.
The relationship we have with China when it comes to trade can make a real difference for our American farmers and ranchers.

Consumers across our nation are facing significant prices at the meat counter, some are even finding empty shelves in their grocery stores.
While consumers are facing increased prices at the grocery store, meat processors are paying farmers less and less for beef.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average price of ground beef is $6.22/lb. This price increased $.26 from March to April.
Officials in the DOJ investigation are currently probing irregularities in pricing within our four big packers; JBS, Cargill, National Beef, and Tyson.
Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa has been at the forefront fighting for cattle producers over the past few months.
- Besides pushing for the DOJ to look into corruption and collusion within our processing sector, he has also brought forward a bill to increase negotiated cash trade