Market Report - July 13, 2023

Cattle Market Report:

I have been reading several places that we may have reached the top of the market. I am still on the fence. If we do have more up side, I don’t think it will be a lot considering we are half way through July and only a few months from the fall calf run. There are two other rumblings I would like to opinionate on as well. First are rumors that packers are planning to shorten hours in an effort to concentrate production, and therefore lessen costs. They do not take these decisions lightly, but I would not be surprised if they do at this point. I think they are starting to settle into the long haul with the market. I believe they will watch a few more weeks and see what consumer spending on beef does. Second is discussions about expansion. I personally feel like any discussion about expansion at this point is premature. It will be difficult to get decent returns long term on breeding females at this point in the market. Think wisely about this and if you want to go through the finances of it, let’s talk.

Grain Market Report:

Corn has been mostly steady on average over the last few weeks holding a similar price range since the heavy downturn the end of June. Soybeans are averaging about the same as well, but not without volatility. They are holding the uptrend from the first of July. I would imagine grains in general will be up for a little while with Russia playing their on again off again game with the grains agreement and concern about moisture in a lot of the corn belt. 

Cattle and Grain Markets for July 17, 2023

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Sheep Market Report:

San Angelo was steady to $5 higher. Hamilton was steady, and Goldthwaite was up $10-$20. New Holland was steady as well. The USDA estimated domestic lamb and mutton meat production for the week ending July 8th totaled 1.56 million pounds on a 24,000 head slaughter this week compared to 2.11 million pounds and 33,000 head the previous week. Imported lamb and mutton meat for the week ending July 1st totaled 5.12 million pounds which is 243 percent of the domestic production for the same period.

Sheep markets for week ending July 14th, 2023

*No Quote ** Not Applicable

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Hay Market Report:

Exports seem to be picking up a bit, but that is not saying much. Dairies are also struggling to get excited about purchasing feed with current milk prices. There seems to be a bit more, high quality, alfalfa coming to the market. It feels like prices are still trying to find their happy place. That shows as it seems there is not a lot of purchasing going on while buyers wait to see if prices will drop even further. Even in my local market there is a $100 swing in price for hay depending on who is selling.  

*Ross Bronson and Redd Summit Advisors are not financial advisors, and this market report is in no way intended to provide financial advice. This commentary is merely meant to be insight and input about current market conditions. It is recommended that any market commentary be compared to your own trusted sources, experience, and market evaluation. Especially those that are more specific to your regional market dynamics.

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