Beef carcasses have been getting progressively heavier over the past several years. Rabobank Protein Analyst Don Close is seeing some pushback in 2015 over these heavy carcasses. It’s gotten to the point where a lot of buyers don’t want them. Close said the biggest challenge comes with handling the middle meats.
“When you get that steak item that’s either bigger than the plate or you have to cut it thin enough to keep your serving ounces to a manageable level, that’s where it’s really tough,” Close said. “The remainder of the carcass we can pretty well cut it up to whatever size is desired.”
Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays caught up with Close at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting in Kansas City, Missouri last week. Click or tap on the LISTEN BAR below to listen to the interview.
The downturn in the cattle market started in August when the market began to trade sharply lower. The market started to stabilize, then suddenly a second collapse started in mid-October. The market continues to struggle to turnaround. Close said it’s hard to pin point what lead to the downtrend. He said the level of volatility that’s in the market right now lead with the futures and cash market.
“It’s just simply unsustainable,” Close said. “We’ve got to get this thing, the waters calmed down, or there’s nobody on any side of the market going to be able to survive this kind of volatility," Close said.
After a rough 2015, Close predicts the cattle markets will begin to calm down in 2016. In his experience, once the market goes through one of these ultra- volatile periods that the market will fall back into a more predictable seasonable pattern.
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