Fed cattle prices have taken a noticeable tumble in the last couple of weeks. Two weeks ago, the five-area weighted average live price worked out to $124.88. Last week, it came in at $118.89. Not surprisingly, as prices have declined cattle feeders appear to have become less enthusiastic sellers.

With funding from the beef checkoff, the industry has been tracking beef tenderness for 20 years with the first benchmarking survey conducted in 1990. In more recent surveys, foodservice cuts were added and a consumer sensory panel was substituted for previously used trained sensory panels because the consumer’s perception of tenderness is the ultimate determinant of a cut’s success.

Livestock Grain Market News report for Dec. 16

No segment in the beef industry has enjoyed as good a run over the past 10 years as the stocker/grower portion, said Tom Brink of JBS Five Rivers feedyard. And the industry’s current structure may lead other producers to follow the same approach.

The beef industry is evolving with more accurate levels of genomic testing, allowing producers to select superior animals and maximize efficiency, said Jack Whittier, beef specialist for Colorado State University at the Range Beef Cow Symposium on Nov. 30.

Drought complicates range management necessitating different strategies than normally executed on a yearly basis, according to a Texas AgriLife Extension Service specialist.

Crop prices are heading to year-end on a weak note.  Corn prices are near the level that existed in the first week of January and well below the late summer highs.  Soybean prices are well below the level at the start of the year and at the lowest level since early October 2010.  Prices of soft red winter wheat are at the lowest level since July 2010.

Livestock Grain Market News report for Dec. 9.  

Eldon Cole, a livestock specialist with University of Missouri Extension, says farmers in southwest Missouri should be watching for symptoms of fescue foot in their cattle, especially as winter sets in and temperatures get colder.

A half-day spent winterizing farm equipment can produce major savings, according to a sampling of equipment experts.