Cattle Price Outlook Positive – April 26, 2023
US finished cattle sales declined last month as did net feeder cattle placements. US cattle on feed April 1 were down 4% from the previous year.
We have summarized and displayed our forecast for annual US cattle slaughter, beef production and finished cattle cash and futures prices in the accompanying table. Note that August cattle are trading near the lower end of our forecast. We have set our forecasts to conform, although not necessarily exactly equal USDA April 2023 projections.
| US Cattle Marketings / Beef Production Thousand Head/Pounds | ||||
| (January/December) | ||||
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
| Feedlot Mkt | 21,895 | 22,464 | 22,557 | 21,557 |
| Non Fed | 3,472 | 3,509 | 3,544 | 3350 |
| Cows& Bulls | 6,850 | 7,213 | 7,562 | 7300 |
| FIS | 32,217 | 33,186 | 33,663 | 32,207 |
| commercial | 32,760 | 33,836 | 34,321 | 32,851 |
| Com% FIS | 102% | 102% | 102% | 102% |
| Com Beef | 27,105 | 27,898 | 28,252 | 26,774 |
| Weight | 827 | 824 | 823 | 815 |
| USDA April Beef Production Forecast. | ||||
| Thousand Pounds | 27,511 | 27,709 | 27,780 | 26,843 |
| Steers / $/cwt | $108 | $121 | $144 | $165 |
| August Live Cattle $/Cwt. Our forecast for (May August 2023) | ||||
| High | $111 | $127 | $145 | $181 |
| Low | $81 | $115 | $130 | $155 |
| Annual Steers Basis Nebraska, April 2023 USDA forecast, Futures Our Forecast | ||||