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Title: Update: USDA figures are in: the nation's cattle herd has plunged to a 74-year low, totaling 86.7 million head.
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URL Source: https://www.zerohedge.com/commoditi ... -1951-lows-beef-crisis-deepens
Published: Jan 31, 2025
Author: Tyler Durden
Post Date: 2025-01-31 18:17:43 by Horse
Keywords: None
Views: 605
Comments: 6
* * * Ahead of this afternoon's 3 pm est. USDA release of official US cattle inventory data, estimates compiled by Bloomberg forecast the herd will be at its lowest level in more than seven decades. The ongoing cattle supply crunch continues to push supermarket ground beef prices to record highs. Bloomberg cited estimates from four analysts that expect the US cattle herd as of Jan. 1 will decline by .7% from one year ago. This would mark the lowest level since 1951 and extend the decline for a sixth straight year. We have thoroughly documented the cattle crisis resulting in higher ground beef prices at the supermarket: Cattle Futures Hit New Record High As Polar Blast Set To Hit Nation's Beef Supply US Cattle Crisis Worsens As Nation's Herd Size Continues Alarming Side Into Abyss Tyson Foods CEO Unsure When Nation's Collapsing Beef Herd Will Reverse The average retail price for ground beef at the supermarket, calculated by USDA, recently topped $5.61 per pound. Before Covid, that prices was around $3.81. Live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange have surged to record highs. The latest CFTC data via Bloomberg shows money managers boosted bullish live cattle bets by 2,764 net-long positions to 161,970 last week, the most bullish in about five years - and nearing levels of the most bullish ever on record. On top of all this, the nation's cattle crisis is set to worsen with new pressures: President Donald Trump's anticipated tariff war 2.0, which is expected to tighten domestic beef supplies. "All of the things he is talking about have potentially negative consequences more so than anything positive," Derrell Peel, a professor of agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University, told Bloomberg in a previous report, adding, "Our fate's pretty well determined in the cattle industry in the US for the next two to four years – and it's not looking good." About a year ago, the USDA projected that the cattle herd could begin rebuilding by 2025. However, that timeline has since shifted to 2027. The reason is primarily because of high interest rates and poor pasture conditions in the Midwest. "Even as the beef industry has experienced periods of growth over the past decades, the animal count has dropped almost 40% since a peak in 1975. During the current downcycle, which started in 2020, the herd has been shrinking at the fastest pace since the big farm crisis of the 1980s," Bloomberg noted. All things point to higher beef prices this year. Poster Comment: Trump Says DC Black Hawk "Was Flying Too High... By A Lot" Controller left work early - two controllers juggled duties normally handled by four... https://www.zerohedge.com/political/dc-black-hawk-flew-above-allowed-altitude- another-jet-aborted-landing-1-day-over-chopper 
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#1. To: Horse (#0)
The internet says... The cattle herd is gone in my locality. Nationwide, chicken processing facilities are being closed... Famine is coming.
#2. To: watchman (#1)
I trade eggs to my neighbor for cuts of beef from cattle he raises and slaughters. I worked with a guy on a temp job who participated in the Iowa whole herd buyout program his dairy cows got slaughtered and he pissed and moaned about how the state put him out of business as a dairy farmer. I was much glad to part ways from him. On another note, did you get shook by that seismic activity a few days back?
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latestthe cattle crisis
The primary source of protein in the United States is animal protein, which makes up about 69% of the protein in the American diet.
Chicken and beef were the primary food sources of animal protein intake.
Chicken processing plants are closing in various locations, including Iowa, Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana, Arkansas, and Virginia. These closures are affecting both employees and farmers, and have raised concerns about animal welfare and economic impact.
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