The transition from procurement to distribution of meat for the Thanksgiving holiday should be getting underway in the next week or two.  Consumer packaged hen turkeys in wholesale markets as of the first week in October were priced above a year ago by more than 10%, according to USDA-Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) reports.  Scarcity of product has been reported by the media in the last couple months.  Trade was so limited from mid-August to mid-September that the USDA-AMS was not able to quote a price for hens in their weekly market summary.  Price quotations for larger tom turkeys h

Beef exports reached a record level for any month at 324.5 million pounds shipped in August, a 21.3% increase over a year ago. August beef exports to Japan and Mexico increased 10.4% and 49.1%, respectively, from last year to 77.2 and 27.9 million pounds. Shipments to South Korea and Canada fell 9.0% and 6.4%, respectively, to 68.4 and 23.6 million pounds. Beef exports to China continue to soar with August at 59.4 million pounds, a more than five-fold increase from a year ago.

LMIC’s cattle feeding returns for the month of September locked in another profit, albeit small. September is the 5th month of 2021 to post positive returns. Since April, estimated returns have been between $30-40 per head. Expectations are for the rest of 2021 feedlots to see continued profits, but are unlikely to see “home-run” returns this year.