THEE Hot Barn Report!
Heard ONLY on American radio stations across the nation and online at hotbarnreport.com!!
Welcome to America’s Hot Barn Report now heard coast to coast and border to border
It is official, we have just confirmed our 12th reporting barn for the big fall run. We now blanket the great Northern beef belt from Motely, Minnesota to Torrington, Wyoming.
The Hot Barn Report is a fast paced and entertaining daily program covering the latest news and trends in the cattle industry, hosted by Monte James, a veteran rodeo announcer, radio host and industry expert! The Hot Barn Report features interviews with industry leaders, market analysts, producers and ranchers and features True Price Discovery from salebarns in Great Northern Beef Belt and across the nation.
Welcome to the first special Friday edition of the Hot Barn Report in the merry month of May! I heard you Monte James, issuing that sly challenge yesterday! I accept your challenge and will raise the chips! During May is Beef Month, errr let’s make it, USA Beef Month, I will bring you a corny cattle, a jolly rancher, or a humdinger of a beef joke every Friday!
But first let’s get down to the business of beef! The bottleneck in the beef industry is flexing its power and controlling the flow of cattle thus proving the problem of a concentrated market. According to Cassie Fish at The Beef Read, “April cattle slaughter was tiny. After a big slaughter week of 646k the last week in March, packers cut kill back and have held the line since. Last week was impacted by one major plant dark because of a mechanical issue yet no one appeared to make up the short fall on Saturday. And they aren’t done yet. This week’s estimated slaughter is expected to be small as well, one major company running only 3 days at a large plant if accurate. Throughput is the packer’s greatest power. Restricting it gives them tremendous leverage during this time of the fewest fed cattle plants operating in modern history. May and June have always been great beef demand months but in 2023, packers are harvesting fewer cattle and have less beef to sell—about 5 percent less. Generally, retailers are uneasy featuring beef when it is expensive and hard to buy. So it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Choice boxed beef values ended up about $4.84 higher on the week last week though some items printed lower on Friday. Last week’s values were generally record high on many items.”
When plants go dark and chain speeds slow this allows packers to pull out of the cash market and that is exactly what we have seen happen. One look at the Sterling Profit Tracker will show you that since cash cattle have traded lower the last few weeks and with plants tightening their belt packers moved their profits inversely upward.
We are heading into the highest beef demand season which usually indicates packer willingness to run wide open but that now seems uncertain. So what will everyone throw on their grill this year? Will it be a sirloin from South America or a burger blend from around the world. One thing is for sure, packers, wholesalers and retailers do not want the American consumer knowing where they source their beef, as evidence of their strict opposition to Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling that they have their lobbyists working like rabid dogs in Washington to protect their fraud and their bottom line!
Don’t get sucked into the market news. Watch the kill count, the drought monitor, corn prices, and interest rates. We are still in very rough water!
And as promised, maybe even anticipated…..Why was the top bun mad at the bottom bun? Apparently, there was bad beef between them!
No bad beef here only support for our American cattle industry by our Diamond Dozen Hot Barns: Stockmens Livestock, Lemmon Livestock, North Platte Stockyards, St. Onge/Newell, Platte Livestock Market, Tri County Stockyards, Torrington Livestock, Creighton Livestock Market, Bassett Livestock Auction, Mobridge Livestock, Ogallala Livestock Auction Market, and Presho Livestock. Catch them all on CattleUSA.com.
FEATURED EVENTS
Get the latest beef industry facts, statistics and stories showcasing the real ways your Checkoff dollars drive demand for beef here at home and around the globe. Visit drivingdemandforbeef.com
NOW AIRING ON AgriAmerica M-F 8:20AM
