USA: Cattle market review for week 20 from May 20, 2024

Wholesale beef prices continued to rise as retailers increased purchases ahead of Memorial Day . Wholesale beef prices rose, helped by a $10.10 jump in Choice MEAT prices over the past week, significantly improving meat processors' profits. Rising wholesale prices could prompt the market to raise livestock prices for a fourth week in a row.

The US government is announcing new initiatives to address the problem of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in dairy cattle. The measures include providing personal protective equipment (PPE) to workers and financial support for affected facilities that are participating in the USDA-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study. Financial assistance includes up to $2,000 per month for facilities providing PPE, $1,500 to develop biosecurity plans and $100 for producers using inline samplers in their MILK production systems. In addition, up to $2,000 per month will be provided for the safe disposal of milk, and up to $10,000 will cover additional veterinary costs

USDA will cover the cost of shipping samples for testing to National Veterinary Service Laboratories (NVSL) with a maximum of $50 per shipment, based on two shipments per month. The Animal and Plant HEALTH Inspection Service (APHIS) has also allocated up to $98 million to compensate for lost milk production and manage the movement of lactating cattle.

For health services, HHS is investing an additional $101 million through the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reduce the risks of the H5N1 virus and support testing, prevention, and treatment initiatives.

WEEKLY COST OF CUTTINGS CAT.CHOICE

CATTLE SALES

Sale of livestock, heads

Average weight

Week 19

Week 20

Weekly growth,%

Week 19

Week 20

Weekly growth,%

Bulls (live weight)

6,815

973

-85.7%

1 461

1,513

3.6%

Heifers (live weight)

4 391

417

-90.5%

1,289

1 212

-6.0%

Steers (slaughter weight)

1,593

109

-93.2%

916

945

3.2%

Heifers (slaughter weight)

618

20

-96.8%

823

882

7.2%

WEEKLY WEIGHTED AVERAGE PRICE OF CALLS

BEEF PRODUCTION

Index

Week 20

Previous week

A year ago

Weekly growth,%

Growth over the year, %

Slaughter volume

598,000

622,000

640,000

-3.9%

-6.6%

Live weight

1 398

1 398

1 350

0.0%

3.6%

Slaughter weight

850

848

815

0.2%

4.3%

Beef production (million pounds)

507.1

526.6

520.7

-3.7%

-2.6%

CME: Live Cattle Futures

Week 19

Week 20

Weekly growth,%

June

176.15

181.05

2.8%

August

174.13

179.05

2.8%

October

177.43

181.95

2.6%

CME: Feeder Cattle Futures

May

238.80

246.73

3.3%

August

250.90

259.85

3.6%

September

251.98

260.85

3.5%

You can learn more about the state of the cattle market in the United States (livestock prices, the cost of beef by category, production dynamics) in the weekly reviews of the meat market in RUSSIA and around the world from Meatinfo.ru. Weekly reviews are available as part of a subscription.