WACO, Texas, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- A Texas expert predicted strong cattle prices in 2004 despite the first U.S. case of mad cow disease, but not the record levels of a year ago.
"Prices are less than what we had originally forecasted, revised down from $11 to $14 per hundred weight for each weight class," said Dr. Ernie Davis, Texas Cooperative Extension livestock marketing economist, in a report to a Waco agricultural conference Tuesday.
"But when you look at prices, you'll see they are relatively high. It may rebound better than we thought."
Short cattle inventories, coupled with continued strong consumer demand, continue to be important drivers of the current beef market. Trade with Mexico was likely to resume in the next 30 days for live cattle less than 30 months of age, Davis said.
"We're not going to regain the Japanese market until we find those 80 cows that came from Canada," he said. "We've still got about 61 more of those cattle to go."
Feed cattle prices went from $93 per hundred weight to $75 per hundred weight immediately after mad cow disease was confirmed last month. Davis said those prices have now rebounded to the mid-$80 per hundred weight range.
