Livestock –
The attached chart shows a breakdown of the USDA’s beef feature activity index over the past two years. The activity index is a measure of the total frequency of feature activity accounting for the total number of stores for the advertised beef item. For example, a retailer with 500 outlets featuring 5 beef items would have an index score of 2,500.
I find it interesting to see the recent surge in beef features. If I took the date range back further, you’d see the activity index is at its highest level since 2011. The surge in features does make sense when you look at the recent beef/pork ratio, as shown below. You can see just a little more than a month ago the ratio hit its lowest level in the past two years. The ratio has bounced back out again now so I’d probably be willing to bet this surge in beef features might be somewhat temporary, but its something to watch in the coming weeks/months. That being said, just how long beef prices remain this strong is questionable. We’ve mentioned before it seems like boxes could be nearing a top at these levels.
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