There is a lot of concern about the lack of open competition, and the lack of price discovery, in the finished cattle market.
A leading group of livestock marketers has organized a new marketing tool to increase frequency, transparency and depth of the negotiated fed cattle trade and this very morning, they held the first sale of fed cattle on a new online exchange.
FedCattleExhange.com is an internet-based technology platform owned by Fed Cattle Exchange, LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Superior Livestock Auction. They say the new platform will allow buyers to procure market-ready cattle from commercial feedyards using an automated electronic method to match buyers and sellers.
On the first “trial run” this morning they sold about 2000 head of fed cattle from 15 consignors, and prices averaged about $1.25 or so.
The next sale will be in two weeks, on June 6th, then every Wednesday thereafter.
More details:
• Feedyards must enter showlists no later than 3 p.m. Central time Thursday for the weekly sale.
• Showlists then are made available to potential buyers at 8 a.m. Central each Friday.
• Cattle will be offered for sale on a lot-by-lot basis. Lots with common ownership in a specific feedyard may be grouped for sale.
• Buyers can increase a bid in 50-cents-per-hundredweight increments by clicking a “bid now” button. Prospective buyers also can enter a proxy bid allowing the exchange software to automatically increase bids by 50-cent increments until the cattle are purchased or the asking price exceeds the proxy bid.
• If feedyards choose to reject a sale, it must be done before the auction of the next lot has concluded and the seller must pay a fee of $10 per head to the buyer.
For more information, go to http://fedcattleexchange.com or call Danny Jones with Superior Livestock at 405-834-6690.
Superior is the largest marketer in the US of cattle using televised and internet auctions, with offices in Brush, CO, Fort Worth, TX and Oklahoma City, OK. Superior is registered with the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration as a business that is selling on commission.
Fed Cattle Exchange is not registered with the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration and is not acting as a dealer or as an agency that is selling on commission.
Fed Cattle Exchange is not bonded for the protection of the seller or buyer of cattle on the Exchange. Fed Cattle Exchange does not collect money from buyers on behalf of sellers and makes no representation or warranty about the financial soundness or prospects of payment from the buyer.
Source: Northern Ag Network and Fed Cattle Exchange
