v   How much did cropland values increase in the last year?  The average is 13% which puts land at $2,700 per acre.

v   People ate more beef at higher prices this year than last; 16.9 lbs compared to 16.8 lbs at $3.19 versus $3.05 according to Cattle Buyers Weekly.

v   Soybeans are trading at new contract highs.  In fact, November has only traded over $10.00 once before which was in 1988 when they traded at a high of $10.46.

v   Packer margins at the end of last week were -$68.57 per head.

v   Packers may be interested in looking at the new technology a New Zealand firm has created for identifying where the bones are within carcasses.  The technology helps packers become more efficient while improving carcass yields, promoting more safety among laborers and the reduction of labor costs.

v   By the year 2016, Brazil will be the top player in the meat industry exporting more meat than all of its competitors combined.  Brazil will account for one-third of all globally traded meat.

v   The Senate Ag Committee’s version of the 2007 Farm Bill consists of a ban on packer ownership of cattle more than 14 days prior to slaughter in addition to other anti-competitive conditions.  According to a study cited in a recent editorial by John Queen, president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, only 5% of the 58 million cattle transactions that occurred from the year 2002 – 2005, involved any sort of direct packer ownership.  38% of these transactions involved a marketing arrangement which transferred ownership more than 14 days prior to slaughter.  If this ban would be put in place, those programs would be in jeopardy.   These marketing programs had little impact on the cash market.  And, the cash market still accounted for 62% of all 58 million transactions.

v   The Angus breed continues to dominate.  CAB sold 583 million lbs of products in fiscal 2007, the most since 2003.

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