US Cattle Placements Increase Despite Tight Supplies
Brownfield
An ag economist says cattle placed into feedlots were up 4 percent from last year. Charley Martinez is with the University of Tennessee. “Part of the reason why we see that and kind of going against the trend that we saw last year,” he says. “I think drought’s really putting some pressure on folks throughout the country that we just can’t hold on to some of these animals.”
He tells Brownfield prices continue to force producers to make difficult decisions. “The market is signaling they’re worth a lot of money right now,” he says. “Let’s go ahead and move them on. And then, this whole question of rebuilding becomes in a whole other ball of wax.”
Marketings were down 7 percent from last year and total Cattle on Feed were nearly steady with year-ago levels.
But, Martinez says some regional differences are starting to surface. “In March, Nebraska was up actually 3% compared to last year with inventory,” he says. “But one of the numbers that kind of stuck out to me was Colorado. Colorado’s March inventory was actually 8% lower than last year on inventory.”
Live cattle imports from Mexico remain suspended because of the threat of New World screwworm, and that continues to pressure tight cattle supplies.