2018 LMR Negotiated Cattle Market

Confidentiality in the negotiated cattle market, 

0-14 day delivered negotiated cattle market, and reporting regions.
3/70/20 Confidentiality Guideline

The 3/70/20 confidentiality guideline requires the following three conditions:

 At least three reporting entities need to provide data at least 50% of the time over the most 

recent 60‐day time period.

 No single reporting entity may provide more than 70% of the data for a report over the 

most recent 60‐day time period.

 No single reporting entity may be the sole reporting entity for an individual report more 

than 20% of the time over the most recent 60‐day time period.

The Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 requires USDA to publish mandatory data on livestock and meat price trends, contracting arrangements, and supply 

and demand conditions in a manner that protects the identity of reporting entities and preserves the confidentiality of proprietary transactions.
Confidentiality in the Negotiated Market

0-30 Day 0-14 Day 15-30 Day

National 69%

5-Area 50%

Iowa/MN 50%

Nebraska 35%

Kansas

TX/OK/NM

Colorado 81% 62%

% of time passing

January – June 2018

100% passing 100% failing

3

0-30 day delivery is what you 

see on the current reports

0-14 day delivery is what 

you asked AMS to explore

Currently showing 0-14 and 

15-30 day delivery on the 

weekly comprehensive report
Average Number of Firms per Week

0-30 Day 0-14 Day 15-30 Day

National 7.27 7.11 3.46

5-Area 7.27 7.11 3.35

Iowa/MN 6.76 6.51 2.68

Nebraska 6.24 5.92 2.32

Kansas 4.32 4.32 0.84

TX/OK/NM 3.03 2.97 0.41

Colorado 2.65 2.57 0.65

January – June 2018

Passing Occasionally Passing Failing

4
2005

Jan - June 

2018

Cash 55.8% 26.2%

Formula 31.9% 63.0%

Forward 

Contract

4.6% 8.1%

Negotiated 

Grid

7.7% 2.7%

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

2005 2018

55.8%

26.2%

31.9%

63.0%

5-Area Purchase Type Changes

Cash Formula

Shift in 5-area Purchase Types
Negotiated Cash Purchase Type Shift

Regions 2005 2018

National 52.1% 25.4%

5-Area 55.8% 26.2%

Iowa/ MN 73.9% 57.8%

Nebraska 64.6% 43.0%

Kansas 50.6% 19.7%

TX/OK/NM 47.2% 6.7%

Colorado 51.8% 13.5%

Change

-26.7

-29.6

-16.1

-21.6

-30.9

-40.5

-38.3 5

15

25

35

45

55

65

75

2005 2018

Negotiated Cash Purchase Type Trends

National 5-Area Iowa/MN Nebraska

Kansas TX/OK/NM Colorado

*January – June 2018
Formula Purchase Type Shift

Regions 2005 2018

National 33.2% 60.0%

5-Area 31.9% 63.0%

Iowa/ MN 7.2% 21.3%

Nebraska 18.3% 43.3%

Kansas 44.8% 74.9%

TX/OK/NM 42.2% 84.8%

Colorado 30.1% 74.5% 5

15

25

35

45

55

65

75

2005 2018

Formula Purchase Type Trends

National 5-Area Iowa/MN Nebraska

Kansas TX/OK/NM Colorado

Change

26.8

31.1

14.1

25.0

30.1

42.6

44.4

*January – June 2018
15-30 Day Delivery Data

 0-14 day delivery volumes are generally larger than 

15-30 day delivery volumes

 5-area regions occasionally show greater 15-30 day 

delivery volumes

Area 15-30 Portion of 0-30 Trade

National 18%

TX/OK/MN 6%

KS 4%

NE 26%

CO 17%

IA/MN 21%

SD 25%

WY 5%

IL 4%

*January – June 2018

27%

percent of time 15-30 day delivery traded at a 

premium ($) to 0-14 day delivery purchases 

*from 2017 to June 2018 on weekly basis.
5-Area Potential Changes
Current 5-Area Regions

MN

IA NE

KS CO

NM

OK

TX
Potential 3-Area Regions

Northern Plains

Western Cornbelt

Southern Plains

MN

IA

IL

SD

WY

CO

NE

KS

NM

OK

TX
Average Number of Firms per Week

Region 0-30 Day 0-14 Day 15-30 Day

IA/MN 6.76 6.51 2.68

IA/MN/SD/IL 7.11 6.86 2.81

Nebraska 6.24 5.92 2.32

Colorado 2.65 2.57 0.65

NE/CO/WY 6.27 5.95 2.43

Kansas 4.32 4.32 0.84

TX/OK/NM 3.03 2.97 0.41

KS/TX/OK/NM 4.38 4.38 1.03

January – June 2018

Passing

Occasionally Passing

Failing

*current region

*

*

*

*

*
South Dakota Data
South Dakota Harvested Crops

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

2.55 1.75

3.4

5.5 5.6

2.3

Millions of 

Acres 

Harvested

Corn Soybeans Wheat

1993

2017
South Dakota Field Crop Totals

2017: 23,687,000 acres planted

1993: 15,231,000 acres planted
South Dakota

South Dakota recorded nearly 691,000 head of live cattle in 2017 via LMR. 

 310,000 head were negotiated cash purchases

 305,000 head reported from January - June 2018

percent increase of 5-Area volume by adding South Dakota (using 2017 data)

6.4%
South Dakota Purchase Type Percentages

2017

Cash 44.8%

Formula 29.4%

Forward Contract 16.7%

Negotiated Grid 9.1%

2018

56.0%

26.8%

10.1%

7.1%
Wyoming Data
Wyoming Purchase Type Percentages & Data

2017

Cash 70.4%

Formula 10.8%

Forward Contract 18%

Negotiated Grid 0.8%

2018

64.1%

25.0%

10.0%

0.9%

Wyoming recorded 78,000 head of 

live cattle in 2017 via LMR.

 70% negotiated cash purchases

34,000 head reported from January 

through June 2018.

 64% negotiated cash purchases

percent increase of 5-Area volume by adding Wyoming (using 2017 data)

1.1%
Illinois Data
Illinois Data

Illinois recorded 246,255 head of live cattle in 2017 via LMR.

 104,183 head were negotiated cash purchases

 133,862 head reported from January - June 2018

percent increase of 5-Area volume by adding Illinois (using 2017 data)

2.1%
Illinois Purchase Type Percentages

2017

Cash 42.3%

Formula 12.6%

Forward Contract 20.2%

Negotiated Grid 24.9%

2018

46.3%

10.2%

19.3%

24.2%
Price Comparison of Region/States

6 Month Average 

Price

Difference Average Weekly 

Spread From 5-Area

5-Area $121.25 $0.00 $0.00

Iowa/MN $121.91 $0.66 $0.76

Nebraska $121.13 -$0.12 $0.23

Kansas $121.12 -$0.14 $0.31

TX/OK/NM $121.20 -$0.05 $0.41

Colorado $121.03 -$0.22 $0.69

South Dakota $120.99 -$0.26 $0.60

Wyoming $121.50 $0.24 $0.90

Illinois $122.38 $1.13 $1.29

*January – June 2018
Grading Percent Choice or Higher

National 78.69%

5-Area 78.03%

Iowa/MN 85.77%

Nebraska 82.83%

Kansas 80.76%

TX/OK/NM 70.23%

Colorado 81.87%

South Dakota 85.01%

Wyoming 82.64%

Illinois 91.21%

* Beef Type, Formula Net, Contract Net, and Grid Nets

*January - June 2018
5-Area Volume Increase 

Adding Illinois, South Dakota, & Wyoming increases negotiated volume in the current 5-Area by 

almost 10%!

There were 4,872,899 head of negotiated cattle reported via LMR in the 5-Area in 2017. 

Negotiated Increase

Illinois 104,183 2.1%

South Dakota 310,000 6.4%

Wyoming 54,600 1.1%

Total 468,783 9.6%

*based on 2017 data.
Taylor Cox

Field Chief 

Livestock, Poultry, and Grain Market News Division

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service

515.323.2261 | taylor.cox@ams.usda.gov