Last week brought a high level of volatility to the market. Cash fed cattle were lower, although negotiated trade in the South was steady by week’s end. Live Cattle futures contracts found some stability late.
The story of current corn and cattle prices started in 2019 with a slow corn planting season that extended into late June. According to Bryan Irey, senior merchandiser for Greeley-based Crossroads Coop, that left the USDA struggling to estimate corn and soybean production. The estimates, based on models that rely on crops planted in a timely way, drastically overestimated yields.
When the corn belt states turned extremely dry in July of 2020, it resulted in another year of significantly overestimated yields.
In 2020, as Trump was negotiating trade with China, much of the industry didn’t see coming China’s huge corn and soybean purchases. Given the hog herd decreases as a result of African swine flu outbreaks in China, he said it wasn’t anticipated.