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Agriculture • South Texas drought taking its toll on cattle ranchers
South Texas drought taking its toll on cattle ranchers
AgriLife Extension Service | Updated: 03/21/2013
RIO GRANDE CITY – The unrelenting drought is taking its toll on South Texas cattle ranchers who are resorting to a centuries-old emergency method of feeding cattle, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agent.
“Ranchers down here commonly refer to it as ‘chamuscando,’ the Spanish word for the process of burning off spines from prickly pear cactus so cattle can eat the pods for food and water,” said Omar Montemayor, an AgriLife Extension agent in Starr County. “For many of our aging ranchers, chamuscando (pronounced chah-moos-KAHN-doh) and hauling hay and water to their livestock are last ditch efforts to stay in the cattle business.”
Burning cactus is a practice that dates back to the mid-1700s when Spanish settlers moved here from Mexico City and raised cattle for sustenance along both sides of the Rio Grande, Montemayor said. The pioneers burned cactus over mesquite fires, which eventually gave way to kerosene burners until the 1950s when ranchers switched to butane then propane.
“In times of drought, when pastures have no grass or hay for cattle to feed on, ranchers use a propane-fueled torch to burn the needles off nopal, or cactus. The pads or stems of the plant contain moisture and fiber, but very little protein. Ranchers supplement their cattle’s diets with protein pellets called range cubes.”
Chamuscando and hauling supplemental feed, hay and water to cattle are costly measures, Montemayor said, but for many South Texas ranchers, time may be too short to sell their herds now and rebuild if and when the drought breaks.
“Many of our ranchers are in their late 60s and 70s,” he said. “If they sell their cattle and the drought ends next year, they’ll have to buy young cattle back. If a rancher pays $2,400 for a ‘pair,’ a cow and a young calf, he or she will have to wait four to five years to sell four or five calves just to recoup their investment.
“For a lot of ranchers, that’s time they think they may not have, so they’re doing everything they can to keep their cattle alive now. But it’s hard work and very expensive.”
Once cattle start eating burned cactus, a rancher has to have a plentiful supply on hand.
“When ranchers burn cactus, they have to burn at least a two-day supply because cattle used to eating cactus will eat it with spines and all if the burned cactus runs out. That results in mouth injuries, they stop eating and now a rancher has a whole new set of problems.”
At an average cost of $3.50 per gallon of propane, a rancher with 30 head of cattle will spend about $35 per day just on the fuel to burn cactus, Montemayor said.
“Hopefully, a rancher has plenty of cactus on his ranch land. Then there’s the cost of the protein supplement. Some set out molasses tubs which help with the livestock’s hydration and digestive process.”
Thirsty cattle require lots of water, a commodity long since gone from many South Texas ranches.
“For ranchers without windmills or wells, there’s the cost of hauling water to these ranches where ponds have long ago dried up. Some of these ranchers have been hauling water to their ranches for two or three years. A lactating cow consumes about 20 gallons of water per day, so with 30 head, you’re talking about a lot of water daily. ”
Ranchers use all sorts of make-shift and customized tanks and trailers to haul untreated Rio Grande water from municipal water treatment plants to their ranches behind pickup trucks burning $4 per gallon diesel fuel. Cost of the water is relatively cheap, at about $10 for 500 gallons, but the trips are almost non-stop, Montemayor said.
“Once a drought starts drying up the natural resources of a ranch, expenses and efforts increase tremendously. Equipment gets more use which means added repairs and maintenance; the list just goes on and on.”
Ranchers have also been buying hay, available nearby in the lower counties of the Rio Grande Valley where fields have been irrigated. But that won’t last long either, he said.
“A round bale of hay is going for about $100, but as water districts start cutting back on the irrigation water that hay growers have had, hay will become more scarce and more expensive.”
Montemayor said a South Texas way of life going back more than 250 years is very much at risk.
“Our ranchers are not youngsters,” he said. “The expense and effort they have to put in is taking a terrible toll. With little or no rain since Hurricane Alex in 2009, and none in the forecast, we could be looking at the end of an era here. Ranchers, like farmers, are very optimistic, but how long can they hold out?”
http://www.cattlenetwork.com/cattle-new … 65431.html
Statistics: Posted by yoda — Thu Mar 21, 2013 10:19 am
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Agriculture • USDA report shows fewer U.S. cattle farms
Cattle Outlook: USDA report shows fewer U.S. cattle farms
University of Missouri Extension | Updated: 03/01/2013
USDA’s February cattle on feed report had few surprises. The number of cattle placed on feed in January was up 1.6% from a year ago. This was the first time placements have been above year-earlier since May. Because of one extra slaughter day, both marketings and steer & heifer slaughter were up 5.6% compared to January 2012. The number of cattle on feed February 1 was down 6.2%. Low placement numbers last fall imply daily steer and heifer slaughter will be down sharply in March and April.
USDA’s annual report on farm numbers says there were 915,000 U.S. farms with cattle last year, which is 7,000 fewer than the year before. Of these, 729,000 farms had beef cows and 58,000 had dairy cows. The largest 53,000 or so cow-calf farms have half the beef cows and the largest 2,200 or so dairy farms have half the dairy cows.
There was 484 million pounds of beef in cold storage at the end of January. That was up 3.9% from the month before, but down 0.2% from January 2012.
Blizzard conditions in the southern plains gave a big boost to fed cattle prices this week. Through Thursday, the 5-area average price for slaughter steers sold on a live weight basis was $127.84/cwt, up $5.08 from the prior week. On a dressed weight basis, steers averaged $203.30/cwt this week, up $7.75 from the week before.
Beef carcass cutout values were also strongly higher this week. On Friday morning, the choice boxed beef carcass cutout value was $187.49/cwt, up $4.75 from last Friday. The select carcass cutout was $185.25/cwt, up $4.72 for the week.
This week’s cattle slaughter totaled 563,000 head, down 1.7% from the week before and down 9.2% from the same week last year. The average steer dressed weight for the week ending on February 16 was 870 pounds, up 2 pounds from the week before and up 16 pounds from a year ago. This was the 58th consecutive week with steer weights above the year-earlier level. The calf crop has been declining and so has steer slaughter. In 2012 steer slaughter was down 2.3% compared to 2011, but steer carcass weights were up 2.2%. Much of the price benefit of fewer cattle is being offset by more beef per animal.
Feeder cattle prices at this week’s Oklahoma City auction were sharply lower in light volume due to winter weather. The price ranges for medium and large frame #1 steers were: 400-450# $180-$197, 450-500# $176-$182, 500-550# $168-$177.50, 550-600# $152.50-$161, 600-650# $145-$154.50, 650-700# $142, 700-750# $136, 750-800# none, 800-900# $129.25-$132, and 900-1000# none.
The April fed cattle futures contract ended the week at $129.95, up $1.73 from the week before. The June contract gained 63 cents this week to settle at $125.10 on Friday. August fed cattle ended the week at $125.72/cwt. March feeder cattle futures ended the week 30 cents higher at $141.55/cwt. April feeders closed out the week at $144.15.
- See more at: http://www.cattlenetwork.com/cattle-new … G95wX.dpuf
http://www.cattlenetwork.com/cattle-new … 43431.html
Statistics: Posted by yoda — Sat Mar 02, 2013 11:47 am
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Agriculture • Feedlot data signal ‘explosive market’ in cattle
Feedlot data signal ‘explosive market’ in cattle
The beef complex is set up for "explosive" markets next year thanks to the drop in supplies ahead implied by a plunge in the number of cattle being taken on to feedlots, a leading broker said.
A little over 2.0m head of cattle were placed last month for fattening on US feedlots, down 18.8% year on year, the US Department of Agriculture said.
The placements figure, the lowest for a September since the USDA began collecting the data in 1996, was also well below the number expected by investors, who had forecast a 14.9% drop.
The decline was attributed to the impact of high grain prices in curtailing feedlots’ appetite for taking on further animals
"The report showed us that the price of corn is slowing down demand," Paul Georgy at broker Allendale said.
‘Viewed as bullish’
And it was viewed as likely to boost prices of live cattle – those ready for slaughter – besides feeding through into higher prices of beef,
"The bottom-line on the report has to be considered bullish," Mr Georgy said.
A report from Paragon Economics and Steiner Consulting said that the report "will almost certainly be viewed as bullish by live cattle futures markets, especially for the deferred contracts".
In fact, the reaction on markets was fairly muted, with Chicago’s spot October contract losing 0.05 cents to at 126.25 cents a pound, while the best-traded December easing 0.075 cents to 127.20 cents a pound.
‘Going to be a supply shock’
However, this calm looks unlikely to last for too long, given the tightness in beef supplies next year implied by last month’s lower placements, FCStone’s Ryan Turner said.
"When we get into spring next year, and we have a look at what production will be, there is the potential to have some explosive markets," Mr Turner told Agrimoney.com.
"There is going to be a supply shock – there is no doubt about it in my mind."
The degree of the market response depended on the reaction of consumers to paying more for beef.
"If beef prices are high enough, people will stop using it," Mr Turner said.
Key price level
Indeed, broker US Commodities noted how beef prices appeared "to be stalling", despite a rise of $2 a hundredweight to $127 a hundredweight in cash cattle values last week, flagging that when choice beef approaches $200 per hundredweight or so on a dressed basis "the demand slows".
However, cattle supply looked like "being tight enough" to break through that level, and might have done so already were it not for the extra weight of animals, which has made up for weak slaughter rates, Mr Turner said.
He put Monday’s relative weakness in cattle values down in part to the lack of a "shock factor" in the cattle on feed report.
Other investors cited caution amid a continuing sell-down by funds of their net long position in Chicago live cattle futures and options, with the number falling for a fourth successive week to less than half levels a month before, regulatory data late on Friday showed
The Denver-based Livestock Information Centre sees US beef output falling 4.2% next year, with a drop in cattle slaughter of 4.5% offset in part by higher slaughter weights.
http://www.agrimoney.com/news/feedlot-d … -5131.html
Statistics: Posted by yoda — Tue Oct 23, 2012 12:00 am
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Agriculture • CME: How concerned should we be with shrinking cattle herds
CME: How concerned should we be with shrinking cattle herds?
CME Group | Updated: August 3, 2012
The shrinking U.S. beef cow herd and resulting reductions in the annual calf crop are an item of concern to most industry analysts and participants. Fewer cows simply mean fewer people involved in the industry and that means fewer thinkers, fewer ideas, less political clout and a host of other bad things. But it doesn’t drive a commensurate reduction in beef output. They haven’t even had a huge negative impact on cattle slaughter. Those statements seem to be at odds, so what is going on?
First, as can be seen in the top chart, U.S. cattle slaughter has stayed in a range of 32.7 to 33.9 million head for the past 6 years. At its current year-to-date change of –4.3%, it will break out of that range to the bottom side this year. If the YTD rate continues through December, annual slaughter will be just over 32.1 million, the lowest level since 2005 and the lowest non-BSE-influenced level since 1992.
The second chart shows that the continually shrinking U.S. calf crop has quite logically resulted in lower and lower steer and heifer slaughter levels. Should 2012 year-to-date steer and heifer slaughter decline of 4.6% persist this year’s total will be just 25.06 million head, the fewest since 1980. This year’s decline, in number of head, could be the largest ever except for that of 2004 when the full impact of the BSE-driven ban on Canadian feeder cattle imports was felt.
But note in the top chart at right that, while total cattle slaughter has averaged about 1.8 million less from 2005 to 2011 than it did from 1995 to 2002 (before BSE in Canada impacted the numbers beginning in May 2003), annual beef production is still near the same level. The driver, of course, is more beef per animal, a function of both higher slaughter weights and higher carcass yields. There are a number of contributing factors for both increases.
The cattle are simply genetically better. The advent of more cattle being measured for growth rate, leanness, etc. and more sophisticated tools for converting these data into useable knowledge has allowed commercial cattle operations to make significant progress. It wasn’t long ago that about the only people who knew what an EPD (expected progeny difference — a measure of the impact that a parent animal will have on its offspring) was had Ph.D. behind their names. Now every professional cowman not only knows what it means but uses it regularly in making breeding stock selections.
Also, feeding programs are better. Research advances, more and more accurate measurement of feed ingredients and many other factors have allowed cattle to reach larger weights while maintain higher-lean growth. Has lean beef helped consumer demand? Probably. Has it helped production and processing efficiencies and thus kept beef competitive with low-cost chicken and equally improved pork? We think there is no doubt about that one.
Finally, the amount of carcass beef per pound of live weight — carcass yield — has improved, especially in the past few years. The bottom chart at right shows carcass yields computed using data from the mandatory price reporting system since January 2002. As with most livestock factors, there is considerable seasonality for carcass yield but the uptrend since late 2007 is clear. Better cattle, better feed, more timely marketing and feed additives such as Zilmax and Optiflexx have all contributed to this increase.
http://www.cattlenetwork.com/cattle-new … 83456.html
Statistics: Posted by yoda — Fri Aug 03, 2012 10:25 am
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Agriculture • Cattle feeding margins: Can they get any worse?
Cattle feeding margins: Can they get any worse?
Greg Henderson, Editor, Associate Publisher, Drovers CattleNetwork | Updated: July 25, 2012
In a word, yes. Cash fed cattle prices declined nearly $2 per hundredweight again last week, leaving cattle feeders staring at closeouts showing average losses now exceeding $270 per head. Packer margins remained in the black, but profits declined by more than $6 per head, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker. The Sterling Beef Profit Quotient lost another 84 points on the week, leaving the industry profitability index at a negative 813.4, according to estimates developed by Sterling Marketing, Inc., Vale, Ore.
Pork producer margins slipped nearly $6 per head last week, but profits remain nearly $22 per hog marketed. Negotiated cash hog prices declined $1.33 per hundredweight last week. Pork packer margins improved by more than $4 per head for the week, leaving losses at slightly more than $10 per head, according to the Sterling Pork Profit Tracker.
A year ago cattle feeders sold cash cattle at $108.42 per hundredweight, resulting in losses of $112.88 per head. Last year cash hogs fetched $96.10 per hundredweight, resulting in profits of $35.85 per head.
The Sterling Beef and Pork Profit Trackers are calculated using actual weekly prices for both cattle and hogs, feed costs, beef and pork cutout prices, drop credits and other factors that influence profit margins.
The Sterling Beef Profit Tracker for the week ending July 21:
•Average feedyard margins: -$270.31 per head.
•Average packer margins: $6.68 per head.
•Sterling Profit Quotient: -813.4.
The Sterling Pork Profit Tracker for the week ending July 21:
•Average farrow-to-finish margins: $21.94 per head.
•Average pork packer margins: -$10.33 per head.
The Sterling Beef and Pork Profit Trackers are produced by Sterling Marketing Inc. and John Nalivka, president, Vale, Ore., and are published weekly by Drovers/CattleNetwork.
http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Cattle-fee … 80086.html
Statistics: Posted by yoda — Wed Jul 25, 2012 12:47 pm
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Agriculture • Weak US cattle data put herd rebuild ‘years away’
Weak US cattle data put herd rebuild ‘years away’
A rebound in US cattle herd looks some "three-to-four years" away after a bigger-than-expected drop – fuelled by drought and elevated grain costs – in animal numbers to the lowest since records began.
The US cattle herd "looks like getting smaller for another two years", FCStone livestock analyst Adam Stout said.
"We are probably not looking at growth for another three or four years," with the potential for further delay if there is no easing in the drought largely responsible for the current decline in the herd by 2.2m head to 97.8m head over the past year.
The figure was the lowest for July since 1973, when the US Department of Agriculture began collating records.
"Whatever it takes, we need a little rain," Mr Stout told Agrimoney.com.
Feedlot losses
The forecast reflected the length of time it takes to turn herd liquidation around, especially when high feed, grain and fodder costs are cutting livestock producers’ margins – at a time when drought has left US pasture is in historically poor condition.
US cattle inventory, July 1, change on year and (forecast for change)
Beef cows: 30.5m head, -2.9%, (-2.1%)
Beef replacement heifers: 4.20m head, no change, (+1.3%)
Dairy cows: 9.2m head, no change, (+0.3%)
Dairy replacement heifers: 4.10m head, -2.4%, (-0.5%)
Bulls: 1.90m head, -5.0%, (-2.9%)
Calf crop: 34.5m head, -2.3%, (-1.6%)
Total herd: 97.8m head, -1.2%, (-1.4%)
Sources: USDA, Dow Jones
Latest data, which will be upgraded later on Monday, showed just 18% of US pasture in "good" or "excellent" condition, down from 46% last year.
USDA analyst Rachel Johnson last week noted that "cattle feeders who had been hoping for positive margins later this year and in 2013 have also begun to adjust their expectations by paying less for feeder cattle to offset anticipated higher feed prices.
"Projected margins for fed cattle marketed in July are in excess of -$200 per head, based on $117 per hundredweight fed cattle prices."
Feedlots took on some 1.66m cattle in June, down 1.8% year on year, and below analysts’ forecasts, separate USDA data showed.
‘No help on the way’
The poor prospects for US herd rebuilding were reflected in break-out statistics showing a 1.9% drop in dairy replacement heifers, year on year, and a 2.9% decline in beef cows.
"There is no help on the way" for reviving US cattle numbers, a report from Paragon Economics and Steiner Consulting said.
"All classes of young, non-breeding cattle showed numbers lower than expected."
The forecast for the calf crop was at 34.5m head, down 2.3% year on year, "the smallest since 1942".
‘Long-term bullish’
US Commodities said that the weak inventories were "long-term bullish" for prices, in lowering further the level to which herds shrink before better conditions prompt ranchers to restock, stoking competition with feedlots and packers for animals.
However, the broker added that "short-term the [herd] liquidation, with the drought, is a concern", while FCStone’s Mr Stout flagged the impact on trading on Monday of a "big outside market day", with fears for the eurozone prompting a flight to assets deemed less risky.
Feeder cattle for August stood 0.1% lower at 136.925 cents a pound in midday deals in Chicago, where August live cattle, those fattened for slaughter, were 0.3% higher at 118.325 cents a pound.
The best-traded October live cattle contract was 0.2% higher at 123.350 cents a pound.
http://www.agrimoney.com/news/weak-us-c … -4778.html
Statistics: Posted by yoda — Mon Jul 23, 2012 12:49 pm
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Agriculture • US heat ’caused jump’ in cattle moved to feedlots
US heat ’caused jump’ in cattle moved to feedlots
Hot weather is set later on Friday to make itself felt in US cattle data, expected to show feedlots picking up soaring numbers of cattle from dryness-hit ranches – and delaying the market’s long-awaited crunch time.
The US Department of Agriculture will reveal show that the number of cattle snapped up by feedlots soared 14.2% last month, rebounding above 2.0m head, traders believe.
The increase, which contrasts with a 15% decline in placements on April, reflects expectations of deteriorating pasture conditions, as last year, prompting ranchers to sell stock rather than bear the cost of bought-in forage.
Costs of alfalfa hay have risen 15.0% in the last year, including a 3.9% rise last month alone.
Same problem, different place
"It is, like last year, about dry weather forcing producers to sell up," said Don Roose, president of US Commodities, which believes the May placement rose could be as high as 17.0%.
Estimates for US cattle-on-feed report, and (range of estimates)
On feed, June 1: 100.7%, (98.8%-101.9%)
Placed on feed, May: 114.2%, (99.4%-118.6%)
Marketed, May: 105.0%, (102.7-106.6%)
Source: Dow Jones. Data expressed as relative to year-ago level
"Only this time, it is in different areas," rather than Texas, the epicentre of drought concerns, and cattle sell-offs, last year.
At FCStone’s Kansas City office, Ryan Turner said: "This year you are seeing in particular animals moved off the foothills of the grasslands in Kansas because of drought."
Official data show all but 0.03% of Kansas rated either abnormally dry or in drought.
Increased imports
Mexican farmers too have seen sales to US feedlots as a route to escaping the impact of drought which has damaged the domestic corn crop, lifting the price of feed supplies, besides drying up grassland.
In the four weeks to June 2, US feeder cattle imports from Mexico reached nearly 200,000 head, up 33% year on year.
"They have found it cheaper to send cattle north than bring in corn south," Mr Turner told Agrimoney.com.
Imports from Canada near-tripled to 22,239 head.
‘Crisis supply bull story’
The impact of greater placements on feedlots will be to raise supplies of fattened cattle, and beef, six-months-or-so ahead, so placing some pressure on prices.
Indeed, "it keeps delaying the crisis supply bull story further and further", Mr Roose said, a reference to expectations that, at some point, the impact of a US cattle herd near multi-decade lows will tell on prices.
"Eventually we are going to run into the impact of low cattle numbers."
Many investors believe that, when pasture conditions improve, encouraging breeders to restock, cattle prices will jump into unchartered territory as ranchers and feedlots both compete for animals.
http://www.agrimoney.com/news/us-heat-c … -4674.html
Statistics: Posted by yoda — Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:40 pm
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Agriculture • Cattle losses vex drive to assess Mexico drought
Drought’s impact on the Mexican cattle herd is frustrating efforts by trade analysts to get a handle on forecasts for its grain import requirements, although they believe sorghum requirements may end up at twice US estimates.
Mexico’s worst drought in more than 70 years, part of the same weather system which dried up crops and pasture in the US southern Plains, looks set to cause even bigger crop losses than earlier estimates, the US Grains Council said.
Mexico’s harvest – historically the world’s fourth biggest after those in US, China, Brazil and Argentina – will end up at 780m bushels (19.8m tonnes), 700,000 tonnes below the US Department of Agriculture forecast, the council said.
However, while crop losses "are likely to create more demand for US exports, the drought-related losses in the livestock sector are a potential offset", Julio Hernandez, in the USGC’s Mexico office, said.
Cattle impact
According to Mexico’s agriculture ministry, the drought has claimed 60,000 cattle, with a further 89,000 culled in an accelerated slaughter programme.
The National Peasants Confederation in November estimated losses at 450,000 head, with a report by Associated Press pegging losses at 1.7m head.
While such numbers are disputed, the drought is agreed to have also prompted ranchers to run down herds by exporting live animals to the US.
Imports from Mexico, and herd liquidation by southern US ranchers also hit by drought, were seen as the major reasons behind buoyant cattle placements on American feedlots for much of last year.
US livestock imports from Mexico topped 1.4m head last year, up 50% in two years, according to USDA data.
Recovery period
Mexican livestock farmers say it will take "as much as three years for herds to recover", the USGC said, quoting an assessment by Alvaro Ley, president of the Mexican Cattle Growers Association.
"Those cows that were lost are not going to produce calves, and the period those calves need to grow is about three years," Mr Ley said.
Mr Hernandez said that it was "really hard tell exactly what consequences" the Mexican cattle losses will have.
Sorghum import surge?
However, the council pegged Mexico’s corn imports in 2011-12 at "above" 9.5m tonnes, (374m bushels), compared with a USDA forecast of 9.8m tonnes.
Sorghum imports will top 3m tonnes, compared with a USDA forecast of 1.6m tonnes, and making Mexico clearly the top buyer, ahead of Japan.
The prospect of herd rebuilding in Mexico, should drought abate, could also imply a further squeeze on supplies to feedlots, which the USDA warned on Thursday faced tougher competition with American breeders for cattle.
http://www.agrimoney.com/news/cattle-lo … -4288.html
Statistics: Posted by yoda — Fri Mar 16, 2012 1:50 pm
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Agriculture • Canada – Cattle and sheep inventories down 27 Feb 2012
Cattle and calves in the United States and Canada combined totaled 103.3 million head on Jan. 1, 2012, a decline of 2 percent from 105.1 million in the year-ago period, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
US cattle and calves totaled 90.8 million head as of Jan. 1, 2012, down 2 percent from 92.7 million in 2011, according to the agency. All cows and heifers that have calved were also down 2 percent to 39.1 million head.
As of Jan. 1, cattle and calves in Canada totaled 12.5 million head, an increase of 0.5 percent from the year-ago period. All cows and heifers that have calved were at 5.21 million, down 1 percent from a year ago.
Sheep inventories also eased in 2012, according to NASS. All sheep and lambs in the US and Canada combined totaled 6.17 million head on Jan. 1, 2012, down 2 percent from 6.29 million on Jan. 1, 2011.
Breeding sheep were down 2 percent to 4.61 million compared to a year ago, while market sheep and lambs were down 1 percent to 1.57 million head, according to NASS.
US sheep and lambs totaled 5.35 million head, down 2 percent from 5.48 million head on Jan. 1, 2011, NASS said.
The agency recorded 3.98 million head of breeding sheep, a decline of 3 percent compared to a year ago, while market sheep and lambs were at 1.37 million head, down 2 percent from 2011.
Sheep and lambs in Canada as of Jan. 1, 2012, advanced 2 percent to a total of 829,000 head compared to the 2011 number of 813,000, NASS said. Breeding sheep, at 631,000 head, increased 1 percent from last year.
Market sheep and lambs, also advanced to 198,000 head, an increase of 5 percent from a year ago.
http://www.meattradenewsdaily.co.uk/new … down_.aspx
Statistics: Posted by yoda — Sun Feb 26, 2012 10:59 pm
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