# What’s the most disruptive influence in the cattle market? Weather

> Rabobank's second quarter global beef report identifies weather as the most disruptive influence on the US beef complex, with extreme drought across Southern Plains grazing regions forcing early calf placements. Cattle on feed was estimated at 11.5 million head as of May 1, 5% above last year.

- Date: 2018-05-30 · published 2018-05-30T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: weather · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/65154-what-s-the-most-disruptive-influence-in-the-cattle-market-weather
- Commodities: [Live Cattle](https://feedsoft.ai/c/LCATTLE.md), [Feeder Cattle](https://feedsoft.ai/c/FCATTLE.md)

## Why it matters

Drought-forced placements have inflated feedlot numbers and risk bunched fed cattle marketings this summer, pressuring cash fed cattle prices. Continued drought could trigger liquidation and tighter supplies into 2019.

## Read by commodity

- FCATTLE: bearish ▼
- LCATTLE: bearish ▼

## Linked price moves

| Commodity | Date | Window | Change % | z-score | Why linked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| FCATTLE | 2018-05-29 | 5 | +10.1% | 3.4 | Southern Plains drought forcing early calf placements implies tighter future feeder supplies, a supportive supply factor, though the early placements would be bearish near term. |

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LCATTLE | 2026-06-03 | [Grain Market Pain Continues on Weather: Cattle Fall as NWS Nears - AgWeb](https://feedsoft.ai/events/10649-grain-market-pain-continues-on-weather-cattle-fall-as-nws-nears-agweb.md) | +0.0% | -0.7% |
| LCATTLE | 2019-05-24 | [Cattle Current Weekly Highlights—Week ending May 24, 2019 – Cattle Current Market Update](https://feedsoft.ai/events/5752-cattle-current-weekly-highlights-week-ending-may-24-2019-cattle-current-market.md) | -1.4% | -3.2% |
| LCATTLE | 2024-09-10 | [Feeder and Live Cattle Markets Face Mixed Signals as Fall Approaches \| Center for Agricultural Profitability \| Nebraska](https://feedsoft.ai/events/28435-feeder-and-live-cattle-markets-face-mixed-signals-as-fall-approaches-center-for.md) | +0.3% | +4.5% |
| LCATTLE | 2018-06-07 | [Drought has changed the cattle price outlook - Brownfield Ag News](https://feedsoft.ai/events/64642-drought-has-changed-the-cattle-price-outlook-brownfield-ag-news.md) | +1.7% | -2.6% |
| LCATTLE | 2018-09-05 | [Australia's drought impact on cow markets - Seeking answers to the hard questions - Beef Central](https://feedsoft.ai/events/62969-australia-s-drought-impact-on-cow-markets-seeking-answers-to-the-hard-questions.md) | -0.0% | +3.5% |
| FCATTLE | 2019-06-02 | [Feed cost increases have feedyards paying attention to the weather market - RealAgriculture](https://feedsoft.ai/events/58669-feed-cost-increases-have-feedyards-paying-attention-to-the-weather-market.md) | +3.1% | +2.8% |
| FCATTLE | 2024-10-07 | [Fall Cattle Market Update for Midwest](https://feedsoft.ai/events/28014-fall-cattle-market-update-for-midwest.md) | +0.1% | -1.1% |
| FCATTLE | 2017-05-30 | [Weekly Market Highlights – Cattle Current Market Update](https://feedsoft.ai/events/9900-weekly-market-highlights-cattle-current-market-update.md) | +8.8% | +1.7% |

## Sources

- beefmagazine.com: https://www.beefmagazine.com/farm-business-management/what-s-the-most-disruptive-influence-in-the-cattle-market-

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.