Current Cattle Markets Daily Headlines for Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Mackenzie Johnston

6 years ago

Feeding margins in the black

After a seven-week rally in negotiated cash fed cattle prices, cattle feeding margins have finally went into the black.
Last week’s average profit was noted at $40 per hd. Closeouts were calculated with a $106.82 average fed cattle price against an average breakeven of $103.82 per cwt, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker.
- A month ago losses averaged approximately $142 per hd.
Even though the packers bid higher for fed cattle last week, packer margins increased $75 per head to $372.
- This increased profit was a result from the Choice beef cutout price jumping $12 per cwt to $220.
One year ago to the third week of August, cattle feeders saw cash losses of $55 per head, while packers saw profits of $482.
- This week a year ago was the first week to be impacted by the Holcomb plant fire in Finney County, KS.

Last week, the USDA appointed ten new members to the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) and an additional new member to the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF.)
According to Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Mindy Brashers, these committee members represent a diverse group distinguished by their knowledge and interest in meat and poultry safety.
- Members of these committees play a key role in informing USDA’s food safety decisions to ensure the U.S. continues to have one of the safest food systems in the world.
New NACMPI members are appointed to serve two-year terms. For the most part, these new members come from universities, however Ms. Sherri Williams, a JBS representative has also been appointed to the committee.

Brazilian labor prosecutors have sued JBS to compel the removal of workers at one of its chicken processing plants.
- Prosecutors are asking the company to assess their health and ultimately test for coronavirus.
The request comes on the heels of JBS’s Montenegro plant in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul reporting 26 confirmed Covid-19 cases.
- There are an additional 301 suspected cases at the facility.
According to the federal prosecutors, this suit is the seventh they have filed against JBS since the onset of the pandemic.
JBS continues to claim they abide with federal rules passed in June governing factories operating amid the pandemic.