Keep pulling the thread on Dan and Samantha.
One and a half beef processing plants are scheduled to shut down at the end of the month.
Samantha alleges that meat packers are manipulating the weighted average price of cattle by reporting lower base numbers to suppress the base price for formula-based forward contracts.
Dan advises grain farmers to use any rally following the January USDA report to begin protecting their 2026 crop prices.
The spread between choice and select beef grades narrowed to $0.17.
The number of cattle grading above 'choice' has reached all-time record highs, which Samantha attributes to cattle being on feed for longer periods.
Dan believes beef demand trends in the last week of January and the first week of February will be a critical indicator for the market.
Dan expects cattle placements to be on the lighter side for the next two to four months.
Samantha believes the U.S. will experience its shortest cattle supplies in the spring of 2026.
The feeder cattle index has historically been above the 350 level for only 59 days in total.
Dan predicts the USDA will lower the corn yield estimate for Iowa in its upcoming January report.
Dan believes the USDA needs to lower its 'feed and residual' number for corn because there are fewer birds, hogs, and cattle on feed.
Negotiated cash trade volume for fat cattle was 33,000 head last week, which was nearly 35,000 head below the volume from a year ago.