Pasture and Cattle Market Update for Week Ended June 3, 2007

Weather and Crop Conditions
Pasture conditions continued to deteriorate in Georgia last week. According to the latest USDA Crop Progress Report, 90% of Georgia pastures were rated in Poor-Very Poor condition. Florida pasture conditions were almost as severe with 85% of Florida pastures rated as Poor-Very Poor. Nationwide, only California had worse conditions as 97% (this is not a typo) of their pastures were rated as Poor-Very Poor.

The weekend saw some much needed rain as Tropical Storm Barry delivered anywhere from 2”-6” of precipitation across the southern and eastern parts of Georgia. Even with the precipitation, some tractors were spotted performing tillage operations on Saturday and planters were rolling on Monday in the Tifton area following the 2” soaker.

Although it may be premature to pronounce the drought broken, the rain has certainly brought some relief and regenerated most pastures. The current weather forecast for South Georgia calls for good chances for thunderstorms most of this week.


Weekly Market Report

For the week ended June 1, 2007, cattle receipts at 25 markets in Georgia 19,122 compared to 20,081 last week and 8,952 year ago. Compared to one week ago, slaughter cows and bulls were 2.00 to 3.00 lower, feeder steers steady to 2.00 lower, heifers steady to 1.00 lower, steer calves and heifer calves 1.00 to 2.00 lower, replacement cows unevenly steady (Georgia Livestock Market News). Total cattle marketings are running 18% for the year above where they were compared to 2006. Year to date, total cattle marketings are 266,700 vs. 225,600 for the same period in 2006 (Figure 1).



Feeders under 600 pounds make up the largest part of this increase (37%) as producers are early weaning calves. It appears that as the calves are weaned, cattlemen are also liquidating some cows as slaughter cow marketings are up 25% compared to last year. Feeders over 600 pounds are also running slightly better than 25% above last year. Not surprisingly, feeder cow marketings are up only 7% compared to last year.

Reports from around the state indicate that considerable liquidation has been occurring, however, the recent rains have probably staved off additional liquidations at least for another week or so.