Price Cycle Some Day ?

[Stocker Steve]

Fewer cows in US and Canada, again, but we can always import more grind.
Talking heads are busy analyzing the slope of the line, but I think cost of gain is a bigger issue.
I don't see any big change in the cattle market till feed costs come down. How long till U$S 3.00 to 4.00 corn?

 

[J+ Cattle]

Well, if Mexico goes through with the ban on GMO corn, then it can have a negative price impact. It may free up corn to be used in the US as livestock feed, but I don't know if it would get down in that $3-4 range. If it did there could be a lot of bankruptcies in corn country.

 

[Stocker Steve]

C. Wall vented on his 2/2 message about the "ridiculous" feeder futures. He agreed that corn price is its biggest driver currently.

 

[1982vett]

I remember back in the late 70's, the feeder pig market exploded due to mid-west farmers wanting them to turn a profit on their money losing corn crop. Course pseudorabies and some brutally cold winters limited the number of feeder pigs available too. Corn usually is the tail that wags the dog.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

Dad always said, "Cheap corn makes cheap cattle." He was right.

 

[SBMF 2015]

The farmer that I was herdsman for always liked feeding cattle better when corn was a little high. He said that kept all the amateurs out of the game. The guys that would buy a pot load of cattle to feed instead of selling their corn at break even. They usually drove up the price at a sale, paid to much for fdrs, and ended up losing money anyway.