As some have pointed out tho - the packers arn't hurting all that much just yet - there's still an 80 cent spread from fat to rail here in Ont.. and record beef exports. Cow kills have been at record highs this year too... where are the extra feeder supplies going to come from?

High prices are a catch 22 - higher they are, the more cows get sent to slaughter from guys cashing in. Pushing on a spring. Good meat cows here are bringing 80-85 cents all day long now. And I wonder how many guys are really going to keep their heifers when they are bringing $1000... and even if some do (which I doubt will be many, just like guys arn't keeping their cows), that calf isn't hitting a sale until spring 2015 at the earliest...

The beautiful thing about the beef commodity is the long lead times for supply. You can't just plant more feeders in the ground this spring. Or buy cows that don't exist because they have been getting iced at the plants in record numbers.


http://beefmagazine.com/blog/it-s-great-time-be-selling-calves

It’s A Great Time To Be Selling Calves
"The macro-economic factors happen to be lined up to benefit cow-calf producers for the next several years, to the disadvantage of cattle feeders."