NEWS

Global demand for beef has jumped, said CattleFax export specialist Brett Stuart, as countries around the world climb out of the recession faster than the U.S. economy. Stuart presented export analysis to producers during the CattleFax 2011 Outlook Seminar held in Denver, Colorado, Feb. 4 at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association annual convention.

Cattlemen may not like how enormous amounts of feed production goes into ethanol plants, but it’s a trend that isn’t slowing down. Mike Murphy of CattleFax said within one to three years the amount of corn used for ethanol will exceed the amount of corn used toward food production.

Fueled by rising global demands for U.S. beef at a time when the domestic herd continues to decline, beef producers should prepare for steep increase in prices in 2011 – both for beef and feed commodities.

The bulk of February’s cattle marketing was ruled by weather, as not one portion of the United States escaped the wrath of a series of snowstorms and bitter-cold. The first sign of the “weather market” showed up at the tail-end of January as nationwide feeder markets were predominantly lower on fears of the approaching blizzard, plus added pressure from lower cash fed cattle and CME cattle futures.