Be informed about your marketing options for the upcoming year by attending one of the following meetings. 

Monday, March 17^th – Goose Lake, Iowa

Millennium Ballroom 7:00 PM

Tuesday, March 18^th – Dyersville, Iowa

Country Junction Restaurant 7:00 PM

Call 877.207.1051 by March 12^th to RSVP or for further details.

·    February 1 Cattle on Feed: On Feed 102.0%, Placements 105.7%, Marketings 100.9%

·    With carcasses weighing 8-10 lbs. heavier, beef production is expected to be 2% higher in the first half of this year compared to last.  The first quarter should see 8 million more pounds per week; the second quarter 11 million more pounds per week.

·    Cattle-Fax reports that the U.S. average price for 750 pound steers has increased $9/cwt. compared to the January low due, in part, to strong deferred live cattle futures and strong demand.

·    At the National Meat Association’s recent annual convention, Dick Bond, Tyson president and CEO, suggested that the cattle cycle "may have peaked forever."   He noted that the U.S. beef industry has a new set of circumstances where higher input costs force producers into long-term herd reduction, packers reduce excess capacity and consumers pay more for beef.

·    Ground beef recalls due to E. coli O157:H7 were higher in 2007 than in 2006, according to researchers from Kansas State University and West Texas A&M University. Researchers have reason to be hopeful that a vaccine could have the ability to decrease E. coli shedding in beef cattle.  The vaccine employs Siderophore receptor and porin proteins (SRP) technology.  SRP are utilized by food borne pathogens like E. coli to acquire iron.  SRP vaccine technology immunizes animals by not allowing the bacteria to take up iron.  Iron is to bacteria, as oxygen is to humans; if no iron is consumed, bacteria suffocate and can't grow or replicate.   A decrease of 54% in cattle shedding E. coli was seen in the first field study.  As increases were made to the amount of SRP exposure in the second field study, a decrease of 85% was observed.

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