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Mississippi Cattlemen's Association
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Jones County Cattlemen
The Jones County Cattlemen's Association's blood drive was a big success with 167 pints donated; an increase of 50 units over last year.
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Mississippi Angus Association
Angus breeders were joined by cattlemen from Madison and Rankin County for their annual field day. Dupont co-sponsored the event held at Sedgewood Plantation.
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Sampling Beef Dishes
Beef Council staff demonstrated quick and easy recipes for participants attending the Homemakers Club meeting in Scott County.
For more great meal ideas, visit the Mississippi Beef Council site.
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| Blood Drive
Hinds County Cattlemen's Association will sponsor a blood drive on June 19th to benefit Butch Withers, retired head of the MSU R&E Center in Raymond.
Butch has a serious blood disease and anyone able to donate blood is encouraged to contact any location of a Mississippi Blood Services agent and specify Frank T Withers, code DB94.
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| Johanns Questions EPA
Drovers reports that small planes have been circling feedyards and it is speculated that it could be the federal government conducting surveillance for enforcement of the Clean Water Act.
U.S. Senator Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), who served as Secretary of Agriculture in the Bush administration, sent a letter last week to EPA administrator Lisa Jackson questioning the reported use of aerial surveillance.
"It's happening, and I'm trying to find out just what's involved," Johanns says, adding that EPA has been flying small airplanes out of Sioux City, Iowa or Omaha, Neb., to take aerial photos of feedlots in eastern Nebraska, to assess compliance with the Clean Water Act.
Johanns assumes the agency intends to use the photos for investigations and potentially enforcement actions, but says the EPA has provided no information on the operation to Congress. In their letter to Administrator Jackson, the state's Congressional delegation asks for an explanation of the statutory authority under which EPA is conducting the surveillance, along with the purpose of the flights, their frequency and their use in enforcement actions.
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McDonald's to Phase Out Crates
McDonald's Corp. said last Thursday that by 2022 it will no longer buy any pork from suppliers that use gestation stalls. The fast-food heavyweight, in an effort to address concerns of animal-welfare groups, announced in February that it would begin demanding that suppliers phase out the use of the narrow two-feet-wide stalls that groups like the Humane Society of the U.S. have called inhumane.
According to The Wall Street Journal, within five years, the company said, it will only buy pork from "producers who share its commitment to phase out gestation stalls" and then those suppliers will have another five years to make good on the commitments.
"We value our relationship with our suppliers, and our shared commitment to animal welfare," said Dan Gorsky, senior vice president of McDonald's North America Supply Chain Management. "Our approach seeks to build on the work already in place, and we are also sensitive to the needs of the smaller, independent pork producers in phasing out of gestation stalls."
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Market Notes
June 1, 2012
Dr. John Michael Riley
Cash Cattle:
Cash fed cattle were mostly steady this week as Friday's five-area live price increased $0.63/cwt from last week. Texas and Kansas live prices were unchanged at $121/cwt. In Nebraska, live and dressed prices were called at $122/cwt and $195/cwt, respectively. Oklahoma City's sale was not held on Monday in observance of the Memorial Day holiday. In Mississippi markets, steers were called mixed and heifers were steady. Cows and bulls were $2-$4/cwt higher in Mississippi.
Futures:
Live cattle futures were modestly higher if not mostly steady this week. Stable cash prices and improved boxed beef prices added support. On the other hand, weakness in macro economic indicators here in the U.S. and abroad continue to weigh on consumers, which means uncertainty for beef demand.
Feeder cattle futures were lower despite steady live futures, higher beef and lower corn. Wednesday's tumble on Wall Street pushed feeder futures sharply lower. Prices moved higher the remainder of the week but not enough to overcome the steep loses from Wednesday's trade.
Corn futures were split this week as the old crop July contract took a beating while the new crop December contract finished only slightly lower - September is often on the cusp of being an old crop or new crop and with the ahead of schedule crop this year it will fall into the new crop category. Improved yields in South America and a stronger U.S. dollar both spell trouble for the export market. Also, lower crude oil prices and lower equity prices added pressure. The new crop December contract took all this in better stride benefiting from the weather concerns on the current crop in the fields. Weather conditions are forecast to improve over the next two weeks and if that happens corn users can breath a sigh of relief, for now.
Beef:
Wholesale beef prices were higher again this week. Choice prices jumped a little more than $1/cwt on Wednesday and slowly moved higher the remainder of the week. The average price for Choice carcasses were at $196.83/cwt, up $1.95. Select jumped as well but fell on Friday ending the week at $186.93/cwt, up $0.24.
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Calendar
June
19 Kemper CCA
19 Hinds Blood Drive
21 NRCS Field Day
Carthage
28 Rankin CCA
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