By Jeff Stole

Over 250 feedyards throughout Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota now have the advantage of receiving up-to-the-minute fed-cattle market information and breaking industry news at a new level of speed, convenience and flexibility via the Market Reporting Service (MRS) Web site and text messaging service (detailed later in this article). At an additional cost of only $20 per month to Market Reporting Service subscribers, the information package offered by the MRS Web site is unmatched in its ability to put real-time and historical market information at customers’ fingertips, whether those cattle feeders are in the office, in the yard reading bunks, in the combine picking corn, or three states away taking delivery of feeder cattle.

The Web site provides a familiar and easy-to-read format for fed cattle trade information since it is patterned after the MRS electronic information platform that has been available on DTN and FarmDayta for many years. But the improvements over these time-honored information avenues are numerous and include a more timely flow of information, as well as the ability to store year-upon-year of MRS and USDA information for easy reference at any time. Via the Web site, up-to-the-minute information is available instantly upon publication by MRS staff in NC’s Lincoln office – unlike historical avenues that rely on a third party’s ability to transmit and publish the information in a timely manner. Subscribers receive a notification e-mail every time the Web site has been updated, with the subject line of the e-mail containing a “bullet point” summary of the new information that has been posted. This e-mail function can be turned “on” or “off” within seconds by contacting MRS staff by phone or e-mail. No cattle to sell for a few weeks, or taking a vacation that will have you away from e-mail access for a few days? Have the e-mail notification function turned “off,” and have it turned back “on” when you return.

The historical data capabilities and additional “linked” information offered via the Web site are overlooked by many users, but can be real time savers if utilized efficiently. If, for example, a subscriber wants to compare the fed cattle market for the week before Thanksgiving to the week after the holiday for the last two years, that is easily accomplished by using the “other date” function on the MRS Web site to locate archived data and commentary.  As an added benefit, the “links” page provides easy access to a variety of widely used information such as current weather conditions and extended forecasts for many cities throughout the Central Plains and Midwest, and USDA’s weighted average fed-cattle reports for the five major feeding states and weighted average feeder cattle reports from over 35 major auction markets.

Now, for the newest feature that everybody’s talking about – “real-time” market information via text messaging. Available to all MRS Web site subscribers (at no additional service fees), the text messaging service has quickly become the market information avenue of choice for many MRS subscribers. In short, whatever MRS staff knows, subscribers in the country know – in (literally) a matter of seconds via an e-mail that lands as a text message on subscribers’ cellular phones. If a subscriber happens to be in an area without a useable cell phone signal, arriving text messages remain “in transit” and are received in full whenever cellular service is renewed. The text messaging service includes sale-by-sale cash trade information from the three-state Market Reporting Service trade area as well as timely bid/offer and sales volume updates from other major feeding states. CME and CBOT futures prices are updated twice each hour during the daily session, with additional updates as needed when dictated by the volatility of the futures trade. In addition, subscribers receive USDA’s boxed beef quotes twice daily upon publication (11+/- a.m. and 3+/- p.m. CT) as well as the daily USDA livestock slaughter estimate (shortly after 1 p.m. CT). Many MRS feedyard managers store each day’s CME Live Cattle futures closing quotes and USDA’s closing boxed beef quotes for easy reference when visiting with customers or other contacts. Similar to the Web site’s e-mail notification feature, the text messaging service can be turned “on” or “off” at any given time with the ease of a phone call or e-mail to Market Reporting Service staff. Anywhere there is useable cell phone service (some foreign countries included) subscribers have market information at their fingertips with this new technology.

It is the dedication and commitment of all MRS feedyards in the three-state area in providing timely bid/offer and sales information that lets the Market Reporting Service offer the most timely fed-cattle market information in the Midwest. Therefore, access to all MRS electronic information is limited to producers only in an effort to maximize the bargaining power of the region’s cattle feeding industry in today’s challenging marketing environment.

To join the Market Reporting Service, or to sign up for a free trial of the MRS Web site and text messaging service, call Jeff Stolle in NC’s Lincoln office at (402) 475-2333.    Jeff Stolle is NC’s vice president of marketing.