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Choice wholesale beef prices jumped $45.61 per cwt in the week to March 20 as COVID-19 shifted demand from food service to retail grocery. Cash prices for calves, feeder cattle and fed cattle fell sharply during the same period, leaving some unhedged producers with heavy losses.
Retail-driven beef demand held up boxed beef values while reduced packer capacity and record supply kept cattle prices weak, widening the gap between beef and live cattle prices.
beefmagazine.comApr 2, 2020After 70 past bearish disease events, Live Cattle moved a median +0.0% over 5 sessions (51% higher; middle half -1.7% to +1.0%), and +0.4% over 20.
After 46 past bearish disease events, Feeder Cattle moved a median +0.3% over 5 sessions (54% higher; middle half -2.3% to +1.6%), and +1.8% over 20.
Moves of each commodity's benchmark from the last close before the event. Historical reads pool past events of the same kind; they describe what happened, not what will. Not investment advice.
Cash cattle fell sharply while wholesale beef surged, a demand-channel dislocation that squeezed cattle values.
