HARRISONBURG, Va. — What a difference seven months can make.
Jason Carter, executive director of the Virginia Cattlemen’s Association and Virginia Beef Industry Council, said things look far different for the state’s beef farmers now than back in October. Prices have rebounded considerably and, “by any yardstick you use to measure, the industry is in a good state.”
Virginia is a feeder cattle state, Carter said, and demand has increased and is projected to remain strong for some time. The public’s appetite for beef has flushed an oversupply out of the feeder cattle system and helped pushed prices to $140 per hundredweight, 42 percent higher than the $98 per hundredweight farmers were receiving in October.
Increases in beef exports, particularly to Canada, Japan, Mexico and South Korea, helped absorb much of the excess supply, and greater domestic demand took care of the rest.
Because beef is the country’s priciest mass-produced protein, Carter said increased demand is a sign of improved consumer confidence.
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