Cattle Herd News

It appears that the US cattle herd is <a href="http://www.cattlenetwork.com/risk_management_content.asp?contentid=120988">not expanding</a> at the present time. This can be seen because female slaughter is keeping pace with steer slaughter which is a strong indicator that the US herd is remaining steady.<br />n<br />nThis is really good news because we have had a few good years, marketing wise, in a row now and usually that would cause the herd to expand so producers can take advantage of the situation. It's not happening this time for a lot of factors. The two biggest ones being the weather and ethanol.<br />n<br />nThere has been enough weather disasters that have hurt cattle producers in the past couple of years, hurricanes, drought, blizzards, that while some producers in favored areas might be trying to expand, those in the areas affected are liquidating there herds so we are keeping steady pace.<br />n<br />nThe other factor, ethanol, is easy to figure. People are just unsure what corn prices are going to look like and if there will be affordable corn to feed cattle in another year. Corn planting news out of the Midwest supports this. They are planning on planting more corn, but the weather is not cooperating and there is worries whether they will be able to get all they want planted to supply all the needs that are being demanded by the corn markets.<br />n<br />nAs usual we will have to wait and see but I'm sure glad there is no expansion going on. That really drives prices down for producers and makes life tough. Things are tough enough around here without that worry around my neck.<br />n<br />n<strong>Don't limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve. Mary Kay Ash </strong>