CME Group launches Boxed Beef Index

https://www.drovers.com/news/industry/cme-group-launches-boxed-beef-index

• The CME Group has begun publishing a Boxed Beef Index, a new pricing tool that tracks daily value further down the supply chain.
  • The index will focus on prices paid for Choice and Select cuts of beef.
• According to Dana Schmidt, director of corporate communications for CME Group, the Boxed Beef Index will offer market participants price discovery across the entire supply chain. It will serve as the latest innovative tool designed to help all CME customers manage their risk.
• The CME Boxed Beef Index is a five-business day, volume weighted measurement of the daily Choice and Select Cutout prices.
  • USDA will collect the data and publish it in their “National Daily Boxed Beef Cutout and Boxed Beef Cuts- Negotiated Sales- Afternoon report.
• The index has been set up with four main goals:
  • Provide a transparent daily price that producers, packers, processors wholesalers and others can use to track and forecast beef prices.
  • Customers can compare the daily Boxed Beef Index pricing data to the USDA-reported prices of negotiated fed cattle, or the negotiated prices between the packer and feeder for the animals, to better manage risk.
  • Customers could also compare the Boxed Beef Index to the Pork Cutout Index to gain insight into consumer demand.
  • Essentially, CME Group believes the Boxed Beef Index will become the benchmark price reference for beef.
• Schmidt closed in saying that the index is a free pricing tool for market participants, not a tradable product. It is fundamentally in place to serve as a risk management tool.

ASPCA commends federal lawmakers for introducing bill to stop extreme-speed animal slaughter during COVID-19

www.aspca.com

• On Thursday, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) commended U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and U.S. Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Bennie Thompson (D-MS) for reintroducing the Safe Line Speeds during COVID-19 Act to better protect animals, workers and consumers from the dangers posed by higher line speeds in slaughterhouses.
• The Safe Line Speeds During Covid-19 Act would prohibit slaughter and meat processing facilities from operating at extreme speeds during the pandemic.
  • This legislation would suspend existing line speed waivers and put an end to the issuance of new waivers during the pandemic.
    • It would also halt the implementation of, and conversion, to the New Swine Slaughter Inspection System (NSIS), which removes all limits on pig slaughter line speeds.
  • ASPCA believes that increasing production speeds would put more pressure on workers to move animals quickly, which would endanger animals, workers and food safety.
  • The organization believes that processing plants have failed miserably to protect workers from the rapid spread of coronavirus.
    • Since the start of the pandemic, 517 meatpacking plants have had confirmed cases of the virus and more than 57,500 meatpacking workers have tested positive for the virus.
  • According to Senator Booker, outbreaks of Covid-19 have surged since the onset of the pandemic and the situation only worsened last year when the Trump administration approved more than 20 requests from meatpacking plants to exceed regulatory limits on line speeds despite the risks posed to the safety of workers and consumers.
    • The Senator stated that the Biden administration has taken an important first step in withdrawing the previous administration’s proposed rule to increase line speeds in poultry plants.
      • Going forward it is critical that we prioritize the safety of frontline workers and consumers over the profits of large multinational meatpacking corporations, he said.
    • Representative DeLauro stated that even before the pandemic, meatpacking workers experienced injuries at a higher rate than comparable occupations.
      • Increasing line speeds would make it impossible for workers to practice social distancing and comply with safety guidelines, she believes.
    • Since the pandemic, the public awareness has increased when it comes to industrial agriculture, according to ASPCA.
      • A recent survey conducted by Lake Research Partners found that 82 percent of respondents believe the government should mandate slower slaughter speeds to protect animals, workers or public health.

Boxed beef prices

www.nationalbeefwire.com

• Choice boxed beef: $226.67 (-0.62)
• Select boxed beef: $ 220.07 (+0.25)