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High beef demand continues, but cattle market volatility rises

The senior market advisor with Total Farm Marketing says the cattle market continues to see increased volatility.

Naomi Blohm says two news reports last week caused prices to slide.

“There was a horse that was brought in from Argentina that made its way to Florida and that it had some of the screwworm in it, but it was totally contained and that kind of spooked the market.”  She says, “And then also we found out that one of the major packing plants in Colorado, their workers are voting to strike.  So that was weighing on cattle prices.”

She tells Brownfield the industry continues to watch for any news that the U.S. will resume live cattle imports from Mexico.

“It’s a question of if that border ever opens with Mexico.”  She says, “We know our supplies here are tight, but if that border ever opens, that perception of tight supplies kind of goes away pretty quickly and prices could work lower.”

Blohm says fundamentals could still support higher prices, but the market remains volatile, and risk protection strategies are vital to safeguarding producers’ bottom line.

AUDIO: Naomi Blohm – Total Farm Marketing