Latest / CattleUSA Daily / 323: Drought Is Catching Up to the Cattle Market — Just Like We Expected with Samantha Cozza-Wright
Transcript
- 0:00In today's episode of the Cattle USA Daily podcast, we are once
- 0:03again welcoming back Samantha Koza, right, to come on and
- 0:06share about the cattle market. Everything that we have seen
- 0:09over the past week as far as commodities go, as far as what
- 0:13we're seeing on the board as far as the live cattle market.
- 0:16She touches on everything today. And we're also talking quite a
- 0:19bit about macroeconomics. We're talking about all of the
- 0:23hot topics in the world right now, right?
- 0:25Like we're talking oil, we're talking gas, we're talking beef
- 0:28demand, we're talking about everything that's kind of being
- 0:31thrown at this cattle market. And then we also have a really
- 0:33candid conversation about the drought that's in our Western
- 0:35plains right now as well and across cattle country and what
- 0:39that kind of looks like going forward.
- 0:40We have seen a market correction this week, and Samantha talks a
- 0:44little bit about that as well and what we can kind of
- 0:47anticipate going forward as we continue to go throughout the
- 0:50rest of this week and into our spring months as well.
- 0:54Before we hop into today's podcast episode, Samantha, if
- 0:57you're watching on YouTube, make sure you take a second to hit
- 0:59that subscribe button and like this episode.
- 1:01If you're watching on any of our other podcast platforms, make
- 1:04sure you take a second to go follow the show and go to our
- 1:06show profile, scroll all the way down, and you'll see a spot
- 1:09where you can give this show five stars.
- 1:11We would really appreciate it if you guys could take some time to
- 1:13go and do that. That continues to help us reach
- 1:15new audience members, grow this podcast, and make a wider impact
- 1:18across the entire cattle industry.
- 1:20Thanks so much for being here. Without further ado, let's go
- 1:22ahead and hear from Samantha Kozar, right?
- 1:28Welcome to the Cattle USA Daily podcast, your go to source for
- 1:32the latest livestock markets, industry insights and the update
- 1:35shaping agriculture today. I'm your host, Lauren Moylan, a
- 1:38passionate advocate for agriculture, here to keep you
- 1:41informed and connected. Now let's dive into today's
- 1:44episode. Samantha, welcome back to the
- 1:51podcast once again. How is life in Northwest Kansas
- 1:55been over the past week? Better than it was last week.
- 1:58We're getting some rain. As I I told you before, we hit
- 2:00the record button. And so far we're at 60 points.
- 2:03Sounds like we have a high chance today.
- 2:05So northwest Kansas, yeah, finally getting some rain.
- 2:08Hopefully you guys are getting some of that and everybody else
- 2:11in cattle country is getting some of that. 3045 miles West of
- 2:14us is getting well, expected to get 8 inches of snow.
- 2:17We'll see if that pulls through. Eastern Colorado there in winter
- 2:21weather watch and freezes across the country.
- 2:24So pretty, pretty crazy stuff for May when back in February we
- 2:28were super hot temperatures, mid 70s, mid 80s, Crazy stuff.
- 2:33Wish I could say I'm surprised but I'm really not.
- 2:36Like we know Kansas weather and when we saw that like good one
- 2:40was supposed to get 8 inches of snow, I was like, well that's
- 2:44unfortunate. I wouldn't really want snow
- 2:46right now. But they need the moisture, so
- 2:48I'm sure they're not going to complain in about whatever form
- 2:51it decides to come in. Yeah, I think you're poison.
- 2:54Yeah. Precisely.
- 2:55Well, I love to hear. It's such a blessing that you
- 2:57guys are getting some rain and that we're getting some relief
- 3:00from the major, major drought that you guys have been kind of
- 3:03battling over the past few months.
- 3:05But what are we seeing as far as markets go this week?
- 3:08Samantha, give us the rundown. Kind of been all over the place.
- 3:11Last week. We saw some record high numbers
- 3:13for April. All of April honestly was super
- 3:15impressive in the cattle market. If you talk to producers, they
- 3:18were either in the opinion that we were due for technical
- 3:21correction or this thing was going to just keep going up
- 3:24based on seasonality because of beef demand.
- 3:27Last week we saw record highs, maybe we passed that this week.
- 3:31The April live kettle futures contract left the board at all
- 3:34time highs 258 and some on. Since then we transitioned to
- 3:38that June contract month and that set us back some Friday
- 3:42after we transitioned that may you know May 1, we transitioned
- 3:45to that June contract month. Like I said it set us back some.
- 3:48We were pretty much up in the session and all day and then we
- 3:51closed lower and everybody was kind of, you know, turning,
- 3:53turning their heads wondering what the heck happened.
- 3:56And then that just kind of started a bearish tone out for
- 3:58this week. On Monday we were down quite a
- 4:00bit. Monday weakness kind of turned
- 4:02into Tuesday's strength. We regained everything and then
- 4:05some on your futures months. We started that.
- 4:07We saw some light cash trade out of the five area negotiated
- 4:10feeding region that are on Monday, Tuesday at 2:55, steady
- 4:15with last week, but just not, not a whole lot of volume.
- 4:19Everybody's kind of still waiting for the trade to be
- 4:20established this week. Dress trade last week was
- 4:23sitting in an average of $4.00. We saw 405 highs.
- 4:26Crazy. So yeah, I mean, realistically
- 4:29we're seeing some pretty big numbers.
- 4:31The technical correction isn't super surprising I guess, but
- 4:36just a little bit of turbulence there and then hopefully we see
- 4:39to some strength just continuing past Tuesday.
- 4:42You know, like I said, the the producers you talk to, they're
- 4:45either in the opinion of steady cash this week or we're breaking
- 4:49new highs and going to 60 plus and there's really, really no in
- 4:52between. I think like I said, the
- 4:53seasonality standpoint of it is really going to work for us.
- 4:57We're seeing beef demand show face.
- 4:59We're seeing consumer behavior actually pulling people to the
- 5:02meat counter, especially going into major grilling season.
- 5:05We've got Mother's Day this weekend, we've got Memorial Day.
- 5:084th of July is probably not, you know, not far behind that June's
- 5:13going to come up or July's going to come up really fast.
- 5:16All these different, you know, seasonal holidays that we see
- 5:18people pull out their grills. That's really going to be the
- 5:21foundation of this cattle market.
- 5:22And beef has become such a staple in the American diet.
- 5:26When you see a lot of that demand pull from those middle
- 5:29consume, those middle income people, you know, those type of
- 5:32consumers and realistically that isn't going to be the first
- 5:34thing they cut out of their budget.
- 5:35If times get tough and discretionary spending pulls
- 5:38that dollar somewhere else, even your lower income class, they're
- 5:41going to go through the drive through, grab a burger.
- 5:43You know, convenience is also such a staple.
- 5:45So, you know, I think we go either way.
- 5:48If the board supports cash going forward this week, I could see
- 5:51260, but I wouldn't see much less than steady cash just
- 5:54because the Packers are very current in cattle right now.
- 5:57They need to get some cattle bought, especially going into
- 6:00grilling season. Water levels have been great.
- 6:04Efficiency levels have surpassed what they've been for months.
- 6:07I mean, efficiency levels at the Packers are huge right now,
- 6:10better than they've seen in a really, really long time.
- 6:13And it works out better for them.
- 6:14When you're ramping up all this equipment and you know your
- 6:18input costs are spread out over on a per head basis.
- 6:22When you're spending more money for less head to run those
- 6:25through the kill floor, you know, that's obviously not not
- 6:28great on input costs. I think we'll likely see them
- 6:31start to prop up box beef past that or past or at that $4.00
- 6:35mark to try and catch up with that $4.00 dress trade.
- 6:38So I think that's what we need to be kind of preparing for as
- 6:40we move into the end of the week.
- 6:42Yeah, absolutely. And this was something that
- 6:45we've been talking about for weeks of when is the natural
- 6:48market correction going to come and what is that going to look
- 6:51like and what kind of effect are we going to see on the market
- 6:54when that inevitably comes. And so now that it is kind of
- 6:57been here this week, it's encouraging to see that it has
- 7:00disrupted the market a little bit.
- 7:02But at the same time, it's not taking us out, it's not sweeping
- 7:05our feet out from underneath us. It is still a really great
- 7:09market that we are working in right now.
- 7:12We're talking about this on Wednesday morning.
- 7:14And so I mean it's halfway through the week and we've seen
- 7:18some encouraging signs as we go throughout the week as far as
- 7:22the market is concerned and how people are deciding to show up
- 7:25on the board and what those numbers are continuing to look
- 7:28like. So I mean as we go into the rest
- 7:30of the week, that's some encouraging signs that we might
- 7:32not surpass those numbers like you were talking about and some
- 7:36producers are hoping for. But at the same time, as long as
- 7:39we're staying steady, that's that's a win in and of itself at
- 7:43the numbers and the highs that we're seeing right now.
- 7:45Yeah, absolutely. And I think we keep it pretty
- 7:47close in mind that it's a typical thing that we see from
- 7:50the Packers where they want to prop up box beef, cut out
- 7:52values, they want to offer a little bit more on cash.
- 7:55But I think they're really in a position where they're short
- 7:58bought this week. We know they don't have a lot of
- 8:00inventory on hand readily available.
- 8:02We're going to see them show up in the in the cash market.
- 8:04It's just a matter of how much. And I mean it could be quite a
- 8:07bit. We've seen a lot of volume in
- 8:08the last few weeks, but and kind of just waiting to, like I said,
- 8:11establish that trade and kind of get that baseline futures, you
- 8:15know, they've kind of given us a hard area to pay where we're
- 8:19going to see cash trade because we've cash has been trading over
- 8:21futures for the last two weeks. So cash is almost trying to play
- 8:25catch up, which is why I'm a little more optimistic on the
- 8:28futures board this week because they're trying to play catch up,
- 8:30catch up. The feeder cattle index right
- 8:33now is as of Monday, with that one day lagging average is $9
- 8:37over feeder cattle futures from the little bit of trade that we
- 8:39did see the five very feeding region that's $3 over where
- 8:43futures are trading right now in that June contract month.
- 8:45So it's kind of, you know, we're all we're all paying attention
- 8:49to cash, we're all paying attention to beef demand
- 8:51seasonality. And realistically, you know,
- 8:53I've kind of had my doubts about a beef demand just more so
- 8:57coming off that that $4.00 surge mid March at such an unseasonal
- 9:01time frame because everybody was saying, you know, do we did we
- 9:04peek early? Are we going to continue to
- 9:05climb off of this? And then box beef fell back 10
- 9:08to $15.00. So that's, I don't know where my
- 9:10hesitants came in, but realistically, like I said, beef
- 9:13has become such a staple and the American diet, it's not usually
- 9:16the first thing to cut out. It's been put to the test
- 9:19throughout 2025 and come out stronger.
- 9:22Realistically, beef per capita consumption has surged.
- 9:26You know, all great things. And realistically, I, to be
- 9:30honest, never really heard people talk about beef being
- 9:33high until it became such a talking point in the media.
- 9:36So everybody's kind of wondering with gas prices the way they
- 9:39are, if people are going to start showing up or keep showing
- 9:42up to the meat count. And my opinion personally, I do
- 9:45think that happens. And and, you know, I do think
- 9:48that once we do get this war settled, gas prices will start
- 9:51to come back pretty quickly. Even oil, we got some support on
- 9:54futures yesterday just from oil. I mean, oil was down in terms of
- 9:58equities. The NASDAQ reached all time
- 10:00highs and corn was down. Corn was down big, which I don't
- 10:04think was something we expected because of drought and just a
- 10:08different things going on with energy.
- 10:10But it was down big and we saw a push from that.
- 10:12So, you know, volatility is definitely very, very still
- 10:15alive and well. And we have to be very, very
- 10:18cautious of that. Yeah.
- 10:20Absolutely. And I mean, we talked just a
- 10:22couple weeks ago and you had shared your hesitations around
- 10:25beef demand and what the consumers were actually
- 10:27purchasing and what those numbers were looking like in the
- 10:30real day-to-day. And I think now that we've had
- 10:33some time to really start to see the spring pushing the demand
- 10:37come around and start to see some follow up numbers on it.
- 10:40We are still seeing our consumers show up at the beef
- 10:43counter, which is really encouraging.
- 10:44And I, I am kind of of the party to that.
- 10:47It has become such a staple in our diet.
- 10:48The people are still going to show up to the beef counter, but
- 10:51they might be purchasing something different instead of
- 10:53purchasing a rib eye. They're going to be going for
- 10:55the ground or they're going to be going for your off cuts or
- 10:58your chucks, your roasts, your different things like that.
- 11:01They can maybe get a little bit of a discount on or a bigger
- 11:03bang for their buck as far as poundage goes and just do some
- 11:07different creative meals with as numbers continue to get tight, I
- 11:11think that we're really seeing a nutritional shift towards
- 11:15prioritizing high quality proteins.
- 11:17And I mean, that's it's a great day to be a beef producer when
- 11:19the United States is really pushing that in their
- 11:22conversation. And then also towards our
- 11:25consumers, I'm really continuing to push them that like, hey, gas
- 11:28prices might be high right now. Discretionary spending might be
- 11:31low, but like you still need to prioritize a high protein diet.
- 11:35This is what that looks like. Maybe let's cut out this and
- 11:38some of our processed foods or some of our snacks or different
- 11:41things like that rather than cutting out some of our major
- 11:45food groups. So that's really encouraging.
- 11:46And then I mean the war and oil prices and gas prices are the
- 11:51thing that's on the top of everyone's head right now,
- 11:53right? Like you can't walk, not walk.
- 11:55You can't drive down the Interstate right now.
- 11:57And cans is at least without seeing gas at 399 and diesel
- 12:01over $5. Like it's it's pricey out here
- 12:04right now. Gosh, I would hate to be on the
- 12:06east or West Coast right now where they're seeing much higher
- 12:10numbers than that as well. But it is it's at the top of
- 12:13everyone's mind because I think that it is one of those things
- 12:16that is a fact. I will be completely honest,
- 12:19Samantha, I am the person that does not pay attention to gas
- 12:22prices because I need gas no matter what.
- 12:24Like what am I going to do? Roll up to the local Casey's and
- 12:27be like, oh, gas is over $4.00. I don't think I'll be guess this
- 12:31week, right. Like no, I'm I'm going to get it
- 12:33no matter what. Like, and now I'm at the point
- 12:36where like people talk about it so much that a drive by and I'm
- 12:39like, oh, they're still sitting at 399 right.
- 12:42Like everyone's talking about it, everyone's concerned about
- 12:45it. But I think that it is one of
- 12:47those things too, that hopefully as we go into higher travel
- 12:51seasons, higher grilling season, different things like that, that
- 12:54as far as the world macroeconomics go, we start to
- 12:58kind of figure some of these things out.
- 13:00Because the reality of it is, is we can deal with this as a
- 13:04market for a short period of time.
- 13:06But if this is going to be an extended drawn out hit on our
- 13:10market, then that's where it starts to actually get some
- 13:13concern thrown in. Especially when we look into
- 13:16freight and trucking and other things that go into the prices
- 13:19of our cattle and what our actual take home dollar is as
- 13:22producers. It's definitely something we
- 13:24want to keep our eye on. But at the same time, hopefully
- 13:27there is a light at this end of the tunnel coming up soon as
- 13:31well, yeah. For sure, And I think it depends
- 13:33on your opinion of the war as well from an economic
- 13:36standpoint, because a lot of people, like I said, depending
- 13:38on your political opinion, don't really bat an eye on at grass
- 13:42prices because greater good, right?
- 13:44Right. We talked about this before.
- 13:46We never wanted Iran to have nuclear capabilities.
- 13:49And that's the vote I'm in. I'm all happily pay more for gas
- 13:52if it means good things for our national security, right?
- 13:55So that's the opinion I'm of and I do.
- 13:58I am still a lot of trust in Trump.
- 14:00He's came through for us a lot of times and I think, you know,
- 14:04his statements just coming out that gas prices are going to be
- 14:06finding some relief following the end of this war and quickly.
- 14:10That's put a lot of Peace of Mind in the producers mind.
- 14:12But also something that we talked about, like I talked
- 14:15about with my parents, is that the actual supply for gas or the
- 14:19demand, excuse me, the demand for gas has went up so
- 14:21drastically. Everybody drives, a lot of
- 14:23people drive an hour one way to work, 2 hours round trip.
- 14:27Everybody's traveling. I mean it makes a little bit
- 14:30more events because the demand is there and we have to also
- 14:34acknowledge that as well. But then as far as consumer
- 14:37spending, we like you said, we are seeing the demand for beef
- 14:40specifically ground beef getting a little more creative for those
- 14:43those meals and ideas and whatnot.
- 14:46And that's where I've almost kind of not even batten an eye
- 14:49at that. That choice select spread that
- 14:51we often see in boxed beef become inverted because these
- 14:56the amount of select product that we have domestically isn't
- 14:59as much as it was years ago, right?
- 15:01We're down to 7 to 10% of select product out of total US beef
- 15:06production. There's a lot less of it and
- 15:08there's a lot more demand for it.
- 15:10We're actually going to see imports surge a little bit here
- 15:13in 2026. They're talking 3 to 4% more
- 15:16over 2025 to make up for that gap in select product because
- 15:20our quality is so good in the United States.
- 15:22Just kind of looking at that as well.
- 15:24But I've been very impressed the last three sessions with just
- 15:27the uptrend in beef prices. And like I said, we're really
- 15:30going to start to see the Packers really push for that
- 15:33$4.00 mark, $4.00 a pound to try and keep up with with dress
- 15:36prices. So I think that's the next mark
- 15:38that we look towards a realistically, it may start to
- 15:41make a little bit more sense going into prime grilling
- 15:44seasons, something to be watching out for.
- 15:47But I think also when we look at the actual technicals and the
- 15:52overall state of the market going into this week, possibly
- 15:55next week, we have to acknowledge all the rumors
- 15:58around the industry, you know, and different I want to say in
- 16:02different states of the market. You know, if we weren't in May,
- 16:06June, July for that, that prime beef demand, would those rumors
- 16:11been more effective on the market?
- 16:13Would those rumors been more volatile on the market?
- 16:17And I think they absolutely would have been.
- 16:19Like I said, the Packers are so short bought this week, they've
- 16:21been slaughtering as quick as they can get inventory in.
- 16:24So they're going to have to show up in cash trade weather futures
- 16:27are supportive of that because of these rumors.
- 16:29We'll see. And based on what they're
- 16:31offering up. But I've heard of a lot of
- 16:32Packers that that won't accept anything under 260.
- 16:35So like I said, we'll see kind of of technicals and cash align
- 16:39this week, but something to be watching for sure.
- 16:42And then just kind of continuing to monitor the supply story.
- 16:46You know, we got a little bit of rain today, like I said today,
- 16:49yesterday sounds like portions of cattle country also did, but
- 16:53we're still a long way from being where we need to be.
- 16:57So we're just kind of seeing if that persists going further into
- 17:00the summer. If you follow weather patterns,
- 17:02I'm no weatherman, but I do follow that.
- 17:05Brian Bledsoe and he's talked a lot about the Super El Nino and
- 17:08kind of the effect that it'll have throughout the country in
- 17:11the summer months and specifically probably more
- 17:14drastically affecting the Southern Plains.
- 17:16So we'll see kind of how that affects.
- 17:18He did make a comment that we likely see it affect in very
- 17:23spotty areas where as a county, Rawlins County may be getting,
- 17:28you know, an inch of rain and the border and county may still
- 17:31be blowing dust. So it's going to be very spotty.
- 17:34Uncertainty is for sure a factor going into the summer months.
- 17:38Yeah, it absolutely is. And I think a lot of people all
- 17:41throughout cattle country, we've talked about this drought
- 17:43multiple times and how it's going to continue to affect the
- 17:47market. And that is a reality of a
- 17:50uncontrollable circumstance that's hitting our markets right
- 17:53now. And we're just really praying
- 17:54for rain across cattle country as we continue to go into a lot
- 17:57of those really vital months. It's supposed to be a pretty hot
- 18:00summer as well, but so far as from what we're hearing, so
- 18:03really need some relief for our crops, for our cattle, for our
- 18:07grazing lands, all of the things like that as we continue to look
- 18:10at how it's going to affect the market in the long run.
- 18:12Well, Samantha, any other things that we did not hit on today as
- 18:16far as the market is concerned? I think people are just looking
- 18:19for a lot of, I guess, incentive as we go into the summer months.
- 18:23So I kind of just want to touch on that a little bit seasonally,
- 18:26like I said, prime grilling season.
- 18:27We're also coming up on a time where we see a gap in cattle
- 18:31numbers as we go into June, July.
- 18:33If you wanted to pull like this, it's this statistics of it,
- 18:37you're looking at maybe 27 percent of people are fall
- 18:39cavers versus like 70% spring cavers.
- 18:42You know, however that pans out to make 100%.
- 18:45But realistically those are the numbers kind of that we're
- 18:48looking at. So we don't typically see as big
- 18:50of a a CAF run, especially not a yearling run as we go into these
- 18:55summer months, we're kind of in a transition period before we
- 18:57see that big fall CAF run, that big full yearling run come
- 19:01primarily September, October, you know that time frame.
- 19:04So we're kind of going to be in limbo a little bit.
- 19:07And like I said, expansions also going to have a huge play on
- 19:10that. Can we continue to sustain
- 19:12heifer retention? A lot of people, like I said,
- 19:14they're holding back heifers or they're buying them at the sale
- 19:17barn to breed. And so if we do start to see
- 19:19liquidation, I would think that we really, really start to see
- 19:22it when the next 15 to 20 days people are looking to start
- 19:26turning bulls out, start turning cattle out to summer pasture.
- 19:29So really I think the bulk of that liquidation we're probably
- 19:32going to start to see more sooner rather than later if that
- 19:35was to happen. Like I said, retention has
- 19:38actually been surprisingly strong given the circumstances.
- 19:41And I know everyone's kind of in neutral on it and in limbo to
- 19:44see exactly if this is sustainable going forward.
- 19:47So something to be watching and as well as if those fall
- 19:50calvers, you know that we typically see their calves hit
- 19:54the market in that summer time frame.
- 19:57Are they going to be coming to the market a little bit early?
- 19:59Are we going to see spring cavers?
- 20:01Are we going to see their calves hit the market a little bit
- 20:03early because of drought and lack of hay?
- 20:05You know, a people around here, like I said, we did get some
- 20:09rain. Hopefully that persists, but
- 20:10people around here are having a really, really hard time finding
- 20:12hay. My brother, he's a, he's a hay
- 20:15broker. He hauls a lot of hay.
- 20:16We put up a lot of hay personally and he's got a lot of
- 20:19calls recently just people looking for hay.
- 20:21And the people that have the hay are actually holding on to it
- 20:24like it's life support because it kind of.
- 20:26It is like in the level that we're in right now.
- 20:28So just kind of one of those things you have to be mindful
- 20:31of. And disease also has been
- 20:35horrible across the cattle, cattle industry.
- 20:37It sounds, I can't remember the name of it now, drawn a blank,
- 20:40but it seems to have really sparked up in the cattle market
- 20:43or in the cattle industry as a whole and kind of picked off
- 20:45cattle numbers as well and some potential liquidation from those
- 20:48fires as well. Those people cannot support
- 20:50those cattle. So supply stories looking pretty
- 20:52iffy. But like I said, we're going to
- 20:54really get a good gist of if we're going to be able to
- 20:58sustain these levels realistically within the next 15
- 21:01to 20 days. Absolutely.
- 21:03And I think that that's a song and dance that we've all kind of
- 21:05been waiting to hear a little bit more on and see what happens
- 21:10because I mean, we're blessed where we're at to not be in that
- 21:14scenario of having to make those decisions.
- 21:16But I know we've really been keeping our eyes on the western
- 21:19part of Kansas, the eastern part of Colorado, up into the
- 21:22mountains in Colorado and kind of all across the western plains
- 21:25and seeing what our fellow ranchers are deciding to do.
- 21:28And then how that is going to continue to affect the market,
- 21:31affect cattle country and affect the next few years of cattle
- 21:35production as well. So definitely something we're
- 21:37keeping our eye on. And prayers go out to all of
- 21:40those people that if you're listening to this and having to
- 21:41make those decisions, I know that's not easy by any means,
- 21:44but definitely something that to keep, we're keeping, we're
- 21:49keeping you in our prayers for sure on all of that.
- 21:51So, Samantha, thank you so much for coming on today once again
- 21:55to share your insights, your thoughts, your opinions about
- 21:58the cattle market and everything that we are seeing right now.
- 22:02We appreciate it. As always to all of you
- 22:04listeners out there, thank you for tuning into another episode
- 22:06of the Cattle USA Daily Podcast. We will see you all next time.