March 2019 Cattle Feeding Projections
Posted: March 16, 2019
March 2019 Cattle Feeding Projections
Looking at the March 2019 Cattle Feeding projections – for the first time in a long time all figures are listed in black; a welcomed sight.
Focusing on a live cattle market that seems to be positive regardless of a Holstein or a colored calf on feed, in addition to some commodities that have regulated and come back down to normal seasonal prices, all play a part in lowering cost of gain for this months cattle feeding projection outlook.
Many spring fed cattle are hitting the market and with no surprise to the challenges with what the weather gave us this winter, reporting lower hot carcass weights being sold. See Figure 1. Its important to remember there are many tools provided by your Form-A-Feed representative that can help provide additional pounds sold the last 30 days on feed that still provide a proven ROI whether you are selling live or in the meat.
When looking at ways to improve your cash flow, it’s important to look at the near future months and the trend in the weekly choice/select spread. See Figure 2. Talk with your Form-A-Feed representative and your cattle buyer when considering the type and kind of cattle you have available for market in the next few months to help capitalize on the support the summer months provide to the beef industry.
It is certainly a challenge with this year’s cattle to get them marketed ahead of the moisture that plagues many pens. It seems green grass and warmer temps will elude us for a little while yet. Dealing with pen conditions is both stressful and taxing on both cattle and humans. Keeping pens maintained now will help them dry quicker, and reducing the amount of moisture cattle are forced to deal with as they reach their finished weights. Many are hopeful for a few days of warm temps to get packs hauled and get back down to dry ground. Here’s hoping we see a few more of those days after this weeks storm.
As always if you have further questions please reach out to your Form-A-Feed representative.
Figure 1:
Figure 2:
