President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe signed a limited trade deal Sept. 25 that includes reduced tariffs on U.S. meats.

The USDA reported Sept. 1 feedlot inventories at 10.98 million head, down 1.3% from one year ago. This is the first year-over-year decrease in monthly cattle on feed totals in 33 months, since December 2016.

Montana-based news outlet Western Ag Reporter (WAR) launched a week-long Twitter campaign Sept. 23, urging producers to take to social media in an effort to enlist President Trump’s aid in bringing balance back to the cattle markets. 

In July, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the midyear cattle report, which provided a snapshot of U.S. cattle inventory as well as a glimpse into cow and calf producers’ intentions for retaining heifers.

The Aug. 9 fire at the Tyson Foods beef processing plant in Holcomb, Kansas, added unwelcome pressure to an already strained balance between processing capacity and fed cattle supply, and sparked unrest in the cattle markets and concern about beef prices.

Total cattle imports in July were down 4.1%, with year-to-date total cattle imports up 14.7% year over year for the January through July period. Cattle imports in 2018 totaled 1.9 million head, including 66.8% Mexican cattle and 33.2% from Canada.

President Trump, joined by trade representatives and members of the U.S. beef industry, recently signed a trade agreement with the European Union (EU) that will designate a larger duty-free quota of U.S. beef to the European meat market.

The lingering effects of inclement weather conditions earlier in the year and a greater proportion of heifers and cows in the slaughter mix have largely kept cattle weights below expectations from the previous month. Average cattle carcass weights appear to have bottomed in the week ending June 1, 2019, at 790 pounds.

The Aug. 9 fire that destroyed portions of the Tyson Foods beef plant in Holcomb, Kansas, left a lingering burn in other portions of the feeder and packing segments. 

An interesting article recently published by Fabio Mattos, UNL grain economist, discussed changes that have happened and are likely to continue to happen in the world’s corn export market as Brazil further develops its corn production.