Reading Between The Lines - What The Markets Are Really Trying To Tell You

Sep 21, 2016

By Dr. Derrell Peel

After a recent bounce back in slaughter cattle prices and a good start to the week with feeder cattle, OSU Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel tells Farm Director Ron Hays he is hopeful that we’ve put in a near term low after several weeks on the downtrend for yearling and calf prices.

“Fall is a tough time of the year to put together a strong rally,” Peel said, citing several factors including volatility being driven from an erratic futures trade. “At the same time, when you look at potential for fall grazing conditions, winter wheat grazing conditions - I think there’s a fair chance of seeing some significantly increased demand for these stocker cattle.”

He says that would in effect pull feeder cattle prices up a little bit at least over the next month.

Dr. peel has been studying current price relationships and trends in the market and from what he can tell, the market is signaling producers to buy stockers. He says the bottom line is feedlots are demanding heavier cattle right now. Comparing what feedlots are paying for lightweight feeder cattle to feedlots’ cost of gain, there is a suggestion of some money to be made here.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.