Ruminant blood meal prices moved lower today as did ruminant MBM out of the Panhandle market. Strong production continues to weigh on the ruminant market and those who aren’t covered into the export market and are looking for domestic buyers are facing strong headwinds. Cattle slaughter finished last week at a robust 680,000 head, up 55 percent compared to the week ending May 2^nd. The increased production, and anticipated continued strong production across all livestock sectors, is expected to add additional down pressure to the protein market.

Figure 1.

Cattle slaughter (left y-axis) is shown against the ruminant MBM price (plotted on the right y-axis).