Beef Market Update - The Unknowns Continue to Dominate - Anne Dunford

[shaney]

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[grassfarmer]

Yup, it must be great to get paid for "market analysis" and come up with no more insightful observations that can be gleaned from the coffee shop or from a collection of Agriville participants. I guess it's a "value added" business to be in though.

[shaney]

Grassfarmer,

Since none of your questions were answered in this segment, what would kind of analysis or commentary would provide value to you.

Anne and I are always looking for feedback to make the segments better and more informative.

[grassfarmer]

I don't think it's a matter of me wanting certain questions asked it's more the knowledge of the expert that I'm questioning. It seems clear from the clip she has no idea of what price levels cow/calf producers might need to sustain their businesses and throws out the suggestion of whether we will enter the heifer retention stage to expand the herd again. She obviously can't answer the second because she doesn't know the answer to the first.

I find the global financial snippets thrown in as weak at best - if you want to follow the stockmarkets there are plenty sources of this information. In truth global recession affecting beef demand is a tenuous link at best - it saves the analyst having to travel into the uncomfortable terrain of challenging the margins being made in the processing and retailing sectors - something all analysts (and "industry" spokesmen)prefer to side step.
Maybe it's the best effort anybody can make at predicting future cattle prices,trends etc but when it seems the predictions are vague and in time are proven as likely to be wrong as right you've got to wonder if it's worth the effort.
I prefer Brenda Shoepp's analysis, I think she maybe has a better handle on the overall picture from rancher to the plate.

[riders2010]

Very well said grassfarmer, it's the same with grain farming as well all these experts and nothing against any of them personally at all hey it's a good paying job it's there go for it. But what do they really tell any of us, We used to be told it's supply and demand then no that cannot be it because as the population grows more are starving every day, then it's this or it's that, what it all really comes down to for cattle, any livestock, grain is that the price we get is just how much the higher up the chain people want to allow us to have and take out of their profits. So no use going looking all over the place for answers to cattle price just go to the ones buying from cattlemen and ask them directly how much they want to screw them today and how much they want to screw them next month and next year, you'll get way more accurate amount that way than anything else.

[skip]

I liked the videos...there just are not any simple answers.

The strong Canadian dollar is tough on everyone...not just killing the livestock industry but almost all exporting industries except maybe oil....why do they think the dollar needs to be a par?