§  Through August, exports of U.S. red meat continued to increase in value with pork up 6 percent ($1.96 billion) and beef up 28 percent to ($1.67 billion) compared to the same period last year, according to the latest statistics compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation and provided by USDA.

§  Grain exports in 2007-08 are forecasted to be 10.6% larger than in 2006-07.

§  Groceries and restaurant meals are expected to increase 4.5% this year compared to a 2.4% increase last year according to the agriculture department.  Ethanol demand is part of the food price inflation, as are higher energy costs.

§ Year-to-date, production of Prime beef is down 9%, Choice is up 3% and Select production is down 6%.  The supply and demand factor is why the Prime/Choice spread has averaged $35.12/cwt. year-to-date; the three year average is approximately $25/cwt.  These premium grades generate a substantial amount of money for the industry as well as on a per head basis according to Cattle-Fax.  The per head premium is around $20 while the industry sees $500-$600 million on an annual basis.

§  Tyson Fresh Meats is stepping back in time, at least in their management style.  Tyson will reorganize their management team to resemble early IBP days.  Segregation of the beef and pork segments with different managers for each will take place, according to Cattle Buyers Weekly.

§  For the seven days ending October 10^th, cow slaughter was 10.1% higher than last year’s levels.  Grind values (how the majority of cow meat is processed) have responded to this large supply by being at their lowest values since July 2006, according to the CME’s Daily Livestock Report.

§ According to CanFax, for the entire 2007 calendar year, Canada could ship as many as 500,000 feeder cattle to the U.S.

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