Cattle Market Slumps Amid Trump Beef Plan Concerns
Cattle futures opened higher on Monday after a bullish USDA Cattle on Feed Report was released. However, according to Brad Kooima of Kooima Kooima Varilek, the President's beef plan is stifling the recovery.
The report showed placements were 11% below last year and the lowest on record for July since 1996. Kooima attributes this to higher corn prices, extreme heat, and cattle death loss.
Despite the lower placements, the nearly 2% higher on-feed number has many producers perplexed. Kooima notes that the combination of feeding cattle longer and the increasing number of beef on dairy on feed are contributing factors.
The President's plan to lower beef prices by 25% through duty-free ground beef imports for 90 days sent the market sharply lower last Friday. Kooima questions the logistics, saying it won't have the desired effect and will make things worse.