Épisodes

  • Cattle Market Guys - Tuesday Check In 8-11-2026

    Cattle Market Guys - Tuesday Check In 8-11-2026
    Aug 11 2026

    Feeder cattle have come off their summer highs, but the lighter steers are already firming back up—500- to 549-pound steers ticked up to over $417 per hundredweight this past week—and Brock and Jim break down why the trend still points higher.. With feeder and stocker marketings running 23.2% below the three-year average, the underlying supply story remains tight, even as futures whipsaw on unrelated economic headlines.


    This Tuesday update covers the full cattle market picture: a detailed look at recent price action across weight classes, national forecasts showing a rebound to come, and insight from a Texas A&M AgriLife economist who says the price ceiling hasn't been hit yet. Brock and Jim also dig into surging ground beef demand outpacing supply, Brazil's shifting protein consumption patterns, and FAO data showing global food prices at a three-year high even as meat prices ease. A $2.5 billion JBS Australia-Danantara joint venture signals major institutional confidence in Southeast Asian protein demand, while U.S. Premium Beef announces CEO Stan Linville's retirement after nearly 30 years. The episode wraps with a look at AI-powered drones transforming pasture and herd management, plus workforce and crop updates from across the industry.


    Jim brings a callback to the 1996 drought years to put today's feeder supply crunch in perspective, and closes out with another one-liner too good to spoil here. Whether you're marketing cattle this month or just tracking where the cattle market is headed next, this episode delivers the data and context to stay ahead.
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    11 min
  • Cattle Market Guys - Week Wrap Up 8-14-2026

    Cattle Market Guys - Week Wrap Up 8-14-2026
    Aug 14 2026
    Tyson is anchoring its entire beef business around just three plants, JBS is shutting down harvesting at its Souderton, Pennsylvania facility today, and USDA is calling this one of the most historic cattle shortages on record. Yet despite that tightening supply, USDA just lowered its cattle price forecasts through 2027 — a contradiction that has Brock and Jim digging into what's really driving the cattle market this week. In this Friday wrap for August 14th, Brock and Jim break down the latest feeder cattle price data, showing short-term stabilization in the 500-549 and 600-649 weight classes even as both remain sharply down from a month ago. They cover the meatpacking industry's rapid restructuring, including Tyson's three-plant strategy, JBS's Souderton conversion and $102 million net loss, and major CEO transitions at U.S. Premium Beef and JBS. The duo also examines a wave of weather disruption hitting cattle production across three continents — a potential super El Niño threatening South American drought, British Columbia wildfires forcing livestock evacuations, and Austrian heat pushing cattle off Alpine pastures early — alongside expanding U.S. drought coverage. Jim shares firsthand stories from the 1993 IBP plant closure and the 1998 drought to give producers historical context for today's headlines. The episode wraps with a look at the August WASDE report, softening fed cattle demand, surging ground beef prices, and what it all means for producer margins heading into fall.
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    11 min
  • Cattle Market Guys - Tuesday Check In 8-18-2026

    Cattle Market Guys - Tuesday Check In 8-18-2026
    Aug 18 2026
    Tyson just pulled the trigger on a historic contraction—closing or selling three beef plants while bracing for a staggering $650 million operating loss in fiscal 2026. With roughly 10,000 head per day in processing capacity vanishing almost overnight, Brock and Jim break down why this "historic cattle shortage" is reshaping where producers can even sell their cattle. In this Tuesday update for August 18th, Brock and Jim dig into feeder cattle prices showing real softness, with 500-549 weight steers down $7.80 week-over-week and heavier weights sliding on forecast data through September. They unpack the Tyson plant closures in Joslin, Illinois and Pasco, Washington, and what it means for basis and buyer competition, drawing on Jim's firsthand memory of the Plainview plant closure back in '94. The conversation moves into cattle futures volatility, with fund and technical selling pushing prices to two-and-a-half week lows amid growing doubts about consumer beef demand—plus Jim's gripping account of the 2003 BSE crisis and the risk-management lessons it still teaches today. The episode wraps with a broader look at global beef demand trends, including the booming outdoor grilling market, a $136-per-head value-add strategy for weaned calves from Merck Animal Health's Dr. John Hutcheson, and international headwinds from Ukraine's agricultural liquidity crisis to Brazil's MBRF profit decline. They close with a nod to the ongoing MCOOL labeling debate and its ties to the packer capacity conversation shaping this week's cattle market news.
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    11 min
  • Cattle Market Guys - Week Wrap Up 8-21-2026

    Cattle Market Guys - Week Wrap Up 8-21-2026
    Aug 21 2026
    Feeder cattle prices are sliding hard across the board, and USDA's WASDE report just extended the bearish outlook all the way through 2027. With plant closures, border tariffs looming, and a new screwworm case threatening Mexican import hopes, cattle producers are facing pressure from every direction this week. In this Friday wrap, Brock and Jim break down the latest cash and futures numbers, with 500-549 weight steers down nearly $30 over the past month and 600-649 steers forecast to keep sliding through September. The duo digs into major packing sector shifts, including Tyson's plant closures in Illinois and Utah, Cargill's Fort Morgan facility set to resume production after a labor dispute resolution, and a leadership change at Frick's Quality Meats. They also unpack USDA's lowered cattle price forecasts and the surprising disconnect between tight beef production and weak consumer demand driving the market. The episode closes with a deep dive into border risk, covering the looming US-Canada tariff deadline and a new screwworm case in Ciudad Juárez that threatens to delay Mexican cattle import resumption. Jim draws on decades of market history, from the 1987 IBP consolidation to the 2003 BSE border shutdown, to give producers perspective on how packing consolidation and biosecurity scares have reshaped cattle markets before. Brock and Jim close with practical advice for producers navigating a market where demand, not supply, is currently calling the shots.
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    11 min
  • Cattle Market Guys - Tuesday Check In 8-25-2026

    Cattle Market Guys - Tuesday Check In 8-25-2026
    Aug 25 2026
    Trump's surprise 90-day tariff waiver just cracked open the door to 300,000 metric tons of imported beef, and cattle producers are furious—even as feeder cattle prices are already sliding hard and fast. Brock and Jim break down why this move eerily echoes a 1986 trade decision that hammered feeder prices before tight domestic supply forced a rebound, and question whether history is about to repeat itself. This Tuesday Update covers the full market picture: 500-549 weight steers down over $22 in a month, 600-649 weights forecast to keep sliding before stabilizing by mid-September, and a deep dive into the tariff waiver's political and economic fallout, including how producers' share of the retail beef dollar has collapsed from 63 cents in 1980 to just 37 cents today. Brock and Jim also unpack the Mexican border reopening for cattle imports, complicated by rising screwworm detections in Chihuahua and Sonora that could delay the anticipated 150,000-head import estimate. The episode closes with a look at July's cattle marketings—the lowest since 1996—Tyson's plant closure in Joslin, Illinois, and what historically tight supply combined with packer restructuring could mean for leverage shifting back to producers this fall. Jim draws on his own experience from the 1996 drought and the 1986 import policy shift to frame today's headlines in historical context, offering listeners a grounded perspective on where these markets may be headed next.
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    12 min
  • Cattle Market Guys - Week Wrap Up 8-28-2026

    Cattle Market Guys - Week Wrap Up 8-28-2026
    Aug 28 2026
    Feeder cattle futures took a beating this week, with 500-549 weight steers sliding $22 off their July highs and 600-649 weight steers forecast to drop another $27 in just seven days. Three separate down days, three separate causes — and Brock and Jim break down why the cattle market got hit from every direction at once. In this Friday wrap of Cattle Market Guys, Brock and Jim unpack the week's biggest cattle market news: the Trump administration's move to waive beef tariffs and expand lean trimming imports, the phased reopening of the US-Mexico border for cattle after screwworm concerns, and a weakening consumer confidence report that piled onto an already jittery cash market. Jim draws parallels to the 1999 beef trimming import debate and the 2005 Canadian border reopening, arguing that markets often react harder to policy headlines than to the actual volume that follows. The two also dig into this week's Cattle on Feed report, which showed record-low July placements and marketings — a sign that despite the short-term price pressure, the underlying cattle supply remains historically tight. Brock and Jim close with practical guidance for producers: don't overreact to a single day's futures swing, watch how import volumes actually materialize over the coming weeks, and track the next Cattle on Feed report closely. This episode covers feeder cattle prices, cash cattle markets, beef import policy, border reopening news, and cattle futures forecasts for the week of August 28, 2026.
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    10 min
  • Cattle Market Guys - Tuesday Check In 9-1-2026

    Cattle Market Guys - Tuesday Check In 9-1-2026
    Sep 1 2026
    Feeder cattle prices are sliding fast, and a controversial tariff waiver on Brazilian beef imports is only adding to the chaos. Brock and Jim break down why the cash market and policy headlines are pulling cattle futures in opposite directions this week. In this Tuesday Market Update, Brock and Jim dig into the weekly cattle price snapshot, with 500-549 weight steers down over $24 from a month ago and forecasts pointing to further softness through September. They unpack Proclamation 11059, the 90-day tariff waiver on imported ground beef that's benefiting Brazil and squeezing Argentina's export momentum, plus a separate processing order aimed at breaking up packer concentration. Jim draws a sharp parallel to the 1989 Meat Import Act trigger, offering a veteran's perspective on how government intervention in beef markets has played out before. The conversation also covers the phased reopening of Mexican cattle imports at the Douglas, Arizona port of entry, a new screwworm case detected in Sonora, and the FDA's emergency authorization of a generic ivermectin treatment. Jim shares firsthand memories of the 1976 screwworm outbreak and the joint US-Mexico eradication program that beat it decades ago. Finally, Brock and Jim examine the shrinking producer share of the retail beef dollar, down from 63 cents in 1980 to just 37 cents in 2021, and what that means for herd rebuilding decisions amid ongoing drought and rising input costs. It's a packed episode covering trade policy, animal disease risk, and the economics squeezing cattle producers even as headline prices stay strong.
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    11 min
  • Cattle Market Guys - Week Wrap Up 9-4-2026

    Cattle Market Guys - Week Wrap Up 9-4-2026
    Sep 4 2026
    Cattle prices are cratering as feeder steers drop nearly $25 per hundredweight in just five weeks, and a controversial tariff proclamation benefiting Brazilian beef imports has producers demanding Washington "stay out of the way." Meanwhile, pasture conditions have collapsed to just 18% Good-to-Excellent—down from 38% a year ago—signaling a supply squeeze that could reshape the market for years to come. In this Friday wrap for September 4th, Brock and Jim break down a brutal week of cattle market data, with both lightweight and heavyweight feeder classes showing steep week-over-week and month-over-month declines. They dig into Proclamation 11059's tariff holiday on Brazilian beef trimmings, JBS executive Joesley Batista's direct meeting with Trump, and the DOJ's expanded antitrust probe now targeting major retailers like Walmart and Costco. The duo also tackles wild futures market volatility, with the August live cattle contract swinging on tariff speculation, border news, and contract expiration dynamics. The episode's third deep dive tackles the deteriorating drought and range conditions across the country, with corn crop ratings and pasture conditions both declining sharply compared to last year. Jim draws parallels to the 1988 drought and 1995 Mexican peso crisis, offering historical perspective on how cattlemen have weathered similar supply shocks and policy uncertainty before. Producers looking for guidance on basis levels, hedging strategy, and marketing decisions amid this policy-driven volatility will find plenty of actionable takeaways in this week's discussion.
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    11 min