Author: Andrew Griffith

Most livestock marketing and management discussions over the past six to nine months have focused on the drought, high feed prices, and increased cow and heifer slaughter. These discussions generally pertain to what cattle producers need to do in the immediate future. However, these same discussion points have longer term implications that should be discussed. Given that heifer slaughter year-to-date is nearly 5 percent higher than 2021 and that beef cow slaughter is more than 13 percent higher than 2021, there will certainly be opportunities in the bred heifer market as soon as drought subsides and cattle producers move into herd expansion mode.

The million-dollar question is when should a person take the risk to try to meet this expected future demand for breeding females? There is no way to know, but one can have an idea of what bred heifers should be worth in the future. Based on research in Tennessee, bred heifer and weanling heifer (550 lb) values are highly correlated. Historically speaking, bred heifers sold in May to calve in the fall have been worth 2.5 times the value of a 550 pound heifer while bred heifers sold in November to calve in the spring have been worth 2.8 times the value of a 550 pound heifer sold at the same time. Thus, if feeder cattle futures are any indication of what can be expected for bred heifers in 2023, bred heifer values may be worth $2,400 to $2,600 per head. Producers should be asking themselves if there is an opportunity to breed and market bred heifers in 2023. It is certainly a big risk, but there is still money to be made if bred heifer values do not reach $2,400.

Figure 1. Bred heifer price ($/head) and feeder cattle price ($/cwt) for 500- to 600- pound heifers at the time of the May and November bred heifer sale from 2008 to 2017. (Boyer et al., 2020)

Boyer, C.N., A.P. Griffith, J. Thompson, J. Rhinehart, K.H. Burdine, and K. Laurent. 2020. Bred Heifer Price Determinants in the Southeast. Journal of Applied Farm Economics 3(2): Article 2. doi:10.7771/2331-9151.1042.

Griffith, Andrew. “Value of Bred Heifers in 2023“. Southern Ag Today 2(41.2). October 4, 2022. Permalink

Uncertainty and volatility are dominating most commodity markets given the current environment, which includes increasing inflation and interest rates. Despite the cash price of many goods escalating rapidly, cash cattle prices have done no such thing as can be confirmed by the CME feeder cattle index and the 5-area weighted average price for live cattle. However, the futures market, options market, and Livestock Risk Protection insurance (LRP) have been offering several opportunities to hedge cattle prices at much higher prices than have been physically experienced for several months. For instance, the August feeder cattle contract has traded between $163.93 and $186.65 per hundredweight over the life of the contract. During that time, the August futures price has held a $10.53 to $27.29 per hundredweight premium to the CME Feeder cattle index. These premiums appear to encourage hedging cattle, but convergence has been an issue with cash prices and the futures market. This is where LRP has an advantage in that it is indemnified based on the CME feeder cattle index and the 5-area weighted average price for live cattle. Figure 1 illustrates the number of days the daily settlement price for each feeder cattle contract exceeded the final settlement price from 2015 through 2020. The point of this figure is that the futures market often offers opportunities to benefit from hedging.

Figure 1. Number of days the daily settlement price of feeder cattle futures contracts exceeded the final contract close price during the life of the contract (2015-2020). (LMIC, 2021; Griffith and Boyer, 2022)

Griffith, A.P., C.N. Boyer, I. Kane. 2022. Producer Focus Groups: Price Risk Management Contributions to Economic Sustainability in the Cattle Industry. University of Tennessee Extension publication. In Press.

Livestock Marketing Information Center (LMIC). 2021. Historic CME Feeder Cattle Futures Prices.

Griffith, Andrew P. . “Hedging Opportunities for Managing Price Risk for Cattle“. Southern Ag Today 2(27.2). June 28, 2022. Permalink

Dairy industry participants have had several tough years over the past decade as it relates to milk and milk product prices. However, the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022 have been positive from a price received standpoint. With the U.S. all milk price sitting close to $25 per hundredweight, this is the highest all milk price since September and October of 2014. The price support is not coming from any one product. Rather, it is being supported by most dairy products as butter, cheese, dry milk and whey are demonstrating strength in the current market. Class IV milk prices are setting records while Class III milk prices are only $2 below the record.

Understanding that milk prices are not the only factor in profitability, the immediate concern in today’s dairy industry is feed price. The price of most feedstuffs has increased along with inputs for feed to be produced in 2022 including hay, silage, and grain. The national milk-to-feed price ratio sits just over $2 per hundredweight, which is considerably stronger than 2021 and represents a strong margin given the booming milk price. The same milk-to-feed ratio when milk is only $15 per hundredweight is not nearly as lucrative as the margins experienced when milk is hitting $25 per hundredweight. However, if the ratio shrinks with milk price remaining elevated then that results in a poor return on investment and increased financial risk. Dairy producers may find it advantageous to lock in milk and feed prices with this many dollars on the line.

Source: Livestock Marketing Information Center

Griffith, Andrew P. . “Dairy Product Prices“. Southern Ag Today 2(16.2). April 12, 2022. Permalink

The thought of marketing cull livestock is generally not at the top of mind for most livestock producers. However, it is an important decision from both a marketing and management standpoint. More specifically, most livestock producers are entering a period in which cull livestock prices tend to be increasing for cattle and hogs or they will be drastically decreasing for small ruminants. Thus, these seasonal price tendencies can be extremely useful when making marketing and management decisions.

Utility cow prices typically experience their largest price increase in February with prices for this class of animal peeking in May or June. Selling cows at the highest price point in the year may or may not be the best decision, but there is a nice marketing window for this class of animal from February through June. Hog producers generally experience a similar seasonal pattern for slaughter sows. The price of slaughter sows will increase from February through the summer months with a nice marketing window between April and August.

From the small ruminant standpoint, slaughter ewe and doe prices are typically at their peak in January and begin to decline in February. Prices then tend to decline through most of the year. Thus, sheep and goat producers may want to consider marketing cull ewes and does in the near term to capitalize on their current value.

---

Griffith, Andrew P. . “Seasonal Price Indices for Cull Livestock.” Southern Ag Today 2(5.2). January 25, 2022. Permalink