Latest News From Packer

Cold Weather Calves
Cold Weather Calves

Calves born in extreme cold quickly utilize all body fat reserves and exposure to wind can exacerbate temperatures. Preparing in advance of inclement weather can lead to improved calf survival.

Brazil Supreme Court Suspends $2 billion JBS Fine
Brazil Supreme Court Suspends $2 billion JBS Fine

JBS parent company J&F Investments has paid about 28% of the fine levied against the giant meatpacker in 2017 over a political bribery scandal.

Meat Institute Launches Protein PACT Academic Advisory Council
Meat Institute Launches Protein PACT Academic Advisory Council

The Protein PACT Academic Advisory Council is formed to advise on research priorities and the latest evidence related to meat production and consumption.

WSJ Challenges The “Big Meat Conspiracy Theory”
WSJ Challenges The “Big Meat Conspiracy Theory”

After Tyson Foods reports anemic first quarter sales and downgrades its forecast, The Wall Street Journal editors wrote, “This doesn’t look like an antitrust conspiracy or market oligopoly.”

Profit Tracker: Packers Can’t Stop The Bleeding
Profit Tracker: Packers Can’t Stop The Bleeding

Beef packers saw per head losses nearly double last week as wholesale beef prices tumbled $7 per cwt. lower. Pork processors are also found negative margins and producer margins remain short of breakeven.

Tyson Announces Bonuses for U.S. Workers
Tyson Announces Bonuses for U.S. Workers

More than 90,000 U.S. hourly employees of Tyson Foods will receive year-end bonuses that range from $300 to $700.

Profit Tracker: Beef Packer Losses Largest since 2017
Profit Tracker: Beef Packer Losses Largest since 2017

The pendulum continues swinging toward cattle feeders as cash prices jumped $3 last week and left packers with their largest negative margins in nearly six years.

New $7.2 Million Feedlot Innovation Center Breaks Ground at the University of Nebraska
New $7.2 Million Feedlot Innovation Center Breaks Ground at the University of Nebraska

The $7.2 million facility located at the University of Nebraska’s (UNL) Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center near Mead, Neb. has officially broken ground.

Greater Omaha Packing Will Expand 30%
Greater Omaha Packing Will Expand 30%

The nation’s fifth-largest beef packer will receive a grant from USDA that will help add 700 head to its daily harvest capacity.

Much of Brazil’s Beef Defies Zero-Deforestation Agreements
Much of Brazil’s Beef Defies Zero-Deforestation Agreements

Brazilian meatpackers continue to procure cattle from inside the country’s protected areas more than a decade after zero-deforestation cattle agreements were signed to reform the sector.

Billion Dollar Beef Plant Searches for Home
Billion Dollar Beef Plant Searches for Home

Western Legacy Development Corp. continues to search for a site to build its $1.1 billion beef processing facility after being rejected by two cities in the northern plains.

Walmart Invests In Proposed Nebraska Packing Plant
Walmart Invests In Proposed Nebraska Packing Plant

Sustainable Beef LLC received a giant boost in its efforts to bring a new, 1,500 head per day beef processing facility online with a commitment from Walmart.

Profit Tracker: Feedings Costs 25% Higher YOY
Profit Tracker: Feedings Costs 25% Higher YOY

The average cost of feeding a steer to finish weight was 25% higher for cattle marketed last week and is projected to be 31% higher for cattle placed on feed last week at roughly $600 per head.

Producer Owned Beef Packing Plant Coming To Amarillo
Producer Owned Beef Packing Plant Coming To Amarillo

During a ceremony in downtown Amarillo, principals for Producer Owned Beef announced their plans for a 3,000-head per day beef packing facility that will break ground next year.

Billion-Dollar Beef Plant Has S.D. Residents, Ranchers Seeking Details
Billion-Dollar Beef Plant Has S.D. Residents, Ranchers Seeking Details

Western Legacy Development Corporation's proposed large packing plant has Rapid City, S.D., residents and city officials seeking more details on how the project may impact the region. Meeting set for Thursday in Wall.

New Antitrust Suit Targets Big 4 Packers
New Antitrust Suit Targets Big 4 Packers

Grocery retailer Giant Eagle alleges the nation’s large beef packing companies have exploited their market power to limit the supply of beef and raise prices in a new lawsuit filed in Chicago on Wednesday.

Nalivka: Packers, Politicians and Misunderstood Meat Industry Economics
Nalivka: Packers, Politicians and Misunderstood Meat Industry Economics

Rather than running to the politicians to solve a problem, perhaps the better strategy might be to gather a plan to create a better understanding of the economics of the industry.

Industry Needs Action, Despite ‘No Nothing Burger’ Hearings
Industry Needs Action, Despite ‘No Nothing Burger’ Hearings

Despite a “no nothing burger” Cattle Market Price Discovery and Transparency Act hearing, NCBA’s Don Schiefelbein joins “AgriTalk” to highlight his thoughts on where the industry needs to see action.

Tyson CEO Provides Statement Ahead of House Agriculture Committee Hearing
Tyson CEO Provides Statement Ahead of House Agriculture Committee Hearing

Prior to testimony at the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Wednesday, Tyson Foods Inc. President and CEO Donnie King released a statement to give his perspective about cattle and beef market practices.

Steve Cornett
Who Wants to Watch the Packers Squirm?

Next week will be a good one for folks with good internet access and a few free hours who want to see some rhetorical fireworks about cattle price discovery.

JBS USA Gives $700,000 to Nebraska Feedlot Innovation Center
JBS USA Gives $700,000 to Nebraska Feedlot Innovation Center

JBS USA has made a gift of $700,000 to the University of Nebraska Foundation to support the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and its plans for a new Feedlot Innovation Center near Mead.

Chicken_Poultry
Second Mistrial In Poultry Price-Fixing Case

Jury deadlocks over price-fixing, bid-rigging allegations by poultry executives. Prosecutors suggest a third trial but the U.S. District judge wants a explanation from the head of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division first.

Fake Meat Is Bleeding Money
Fake Meat Is Bleeding Money

Beyond Meat is set to release quarterly financial reports likely showing growing sales and increasing losses. As one analyst put it, “it seems the more faux meat they sell the more faux money they make.”

Meat Institute Says Biden Plan Won’t Help Producers or Consumers
Meat Institute Says Biden Plan Won’t Help Producers or Consumers

The Biden Administration’s $1 billion Action Plan unveiled Monday to aid farmers, ranchers and consumers would do none of the above, according to the North American Meat Institute.

BT_Hereford_Cattle_Feedlot
Infrared Thermography May Help Mitigate Antimicrobial Use

Texas Tech researchers have received a grant to examine if thermography can help minimize the use of antimicrobials in cattle through targeted metaphylaxis.

U.S. Premium Beef Named CAB Progressive Partner
U.S. Premium Beef Named CAB Progressive Partner

For their influence on the beef business, shifting toward quality and value-based marketing, U.S. Premium Beef earned Certified Angus Beef’s (CAB’s) 2021 Progressive Partner Award.

Brazil Meat Packing Plant
North Platte Expected To Invest In Sustainable Beef

Sustainable Beef, LLC, will likely receive $1 million from the North Platte Quality Growth Fund. to be used to help pay for the estimated $10 million cost of architectural, engineering and planning.

Beef packing plant
Nalivka: Beef Industry Transformation

The future of cattle economics from genetic selection to herd management, and marketing will be increasingly tied to the final product and continually searching for efficiencies across that entire process.

Beef packing plant
Packer Antitrust Lawsuit Dismissed

The antitrust class-action lawsuit alleging America’s largest beef packers conspired to fix cattle prices has been dismissed by a federal judge in Minnesota.

One in five Wendy's out of beef
Wendy's Faces Beef Shortages At Some Restaurants

Analysts say 18% of Wendy's restaurants are out of beef and the chain is "more exposed" to shortages due to the company's reliance on fresh, not frozen, beef.

Cargill Idles High River Plant, Reopens PA
Cargill Idles High River Plant, Reopens PA

Cargill is temporarily closing its High River, Alberta, beef plant due to an outbreak of COVID-19 at the facility. Meanwhile, the company says it has re-opened its processing facility in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.

Derrell Peel: Meat Production Threatened With Disruption
Derrell Peel: Meat Production Threatened With Disruption

The U.S. meat industry faces unprecedented threats as COVID-19 sweeps through labor forces nationwide.  Production of beef, pork and poultry are simultaneously threatened by labor availability and processing capacity.

The world's largest cattle feeder has sold to Pinnacle Asset Management, L.P., an investment firm specializing in commodities and natural resources.
JBS to Sell Five Rivers Cattle Feeding for $200 Million

The world's largest cattle feeder has sold to Pinnacle Asset Management, L.P., an investment firm specializing in commodities and natural resources.