Cattle Slump On Outlook For Slow Grilling Demand; Hogs Drop

[Purveyor]

Cattle futures extended a decline on speculation that persistent cold weather in the U.S. will keep consumers from grilling outdoors, signaling lower meat demand. Hog prices also fell.

Cold weather is expected to persist through the rest of March across large Midwest and East Coast cities. From March 20 to 29, temperatures in the central U.S. may be 8 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit below normal, according to MDA Weather Services. When temperatures warm up, more people grill outdoors, boosting meat demand, said Christian Mayer, a market adviser at Northstar Commodity Investments Co. in Minneapolis.

“Domestic demand was probably hurting already,” Mayer said in a telephone interview. “The cold weather’s not helping at all.”

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-20/cattle-slump-on-outlook-for-slow-grilling-demand-hogs-drop.html

Great news if it pans out, my freezer needs filling with beef. Plenty of pork and chicken on hand.

[sadbear]

1. I live in Texas.

It's too damn hot to cook outside in the summer. My grilling takes place in autumn and winter.

[Purveyor]

2. Here in mid-michigan I haven't even fired up the Weber since Thanksgiving. Had one spell

were I good have but would still had to slosh through melting snow.

25 degrees here right now...first day of spring, ha. Last year I had snow peas up about 6 inches by now.

[sadbear]

8. We'll be hitting 90 pretty soon.

Got up to 87 or 88 on Monday. Yay!!!

[MicaelS]

3. Damn, talk about weird coincidences.

Never would have thought about that one.

[HereSince1628]

4. I don't know one American who reduces beef eating in winter because it is cold outside

They all know how to cook flesh as pot roast, pan fried hamburgers, braised/broiled in the oven, and via the stupendous all purpose George Foreman Grill.

on edit: I do know Americans whose budgets are very tight and whose winter utility bills pinch them even tighter.

[Eleanors38]

5. But my freezer is filled with venison.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

6. I don't understand. I grill in the middle of winter in Massachusetts.

There's nothing better than the smell of barbecue on a cold winter night.

[Yo_Mama]

7. Maybe it's more like an increasing numbers of Americans can't afford it?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-20/americans-cut-restaurant-spending-as-taxes-bite-ecopulse.html

Restaurants are reeling from their worst three months since 2010, as American diners spooked by higher payroll taxes cut back on eating out.

Sales at casual-dining establishments fell 5.4 percent last month, after declining 0.6 percent in January and 1.6 percent in December, according to the Knapp-Track Index of monthly restaurant sales. This was the first three months of consecutive declines in almost three years, with consumers caught in a “very emotional moment,” said Malcolm Knapp, a New York-based consultant who created the index and has monitored the industry since 1970.

The attribution of changes to "fear" is odd. I think it is more a matter of coming up a bit short on the bills, with a colder winter, FICA increase, plus high gas.