The number of slaughter-ready cattle sold to beef packers by Kansas feedlots in May rebounded from April’s low eclipsing the 2014-2018 average and approximating the May-2019 total. The data came from a monthly survey of select Kansas feedlots by the Kansas State University Extension Service.  This data is extrapolated by the Livestock Marketing Information Center … Read More

There should be adequate supplies of beef around for the Independence Day holiday this Saturday, an agricultural economist said. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University agricultural economist, said in a letter to Extension Agents called Cow/Calf Corner, said in anticipation of the Independence Day holiday, estimated beef production for the week ending June 27 was 562.3 … Read More

For the first time in living memory, Asia’s economy is expected to contract by 1.6%, a downgrade from April’s zero-growth projection, said Chang Yong Rhee, from the International Monetary Fund in a blog Tuesday. This is a cut-down version of the blog. Asia’s first-quarter economic growth was greater than projected partly because of early stabilization … Read More

In its latest World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund said global economic growth was projected at a minus 4.9% in 2020, 1.9 percentage points below the April 2020 forecast. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a more negative effect on activity in the first half of 2020 than expected, and the recovery was projected to … Read More

Large commodity investment firms, called managed money in the trade, held their collective net long live cattle futures position nearly flat during the week ended Tuesday as hedgers increased their net short position. The data came from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday. Managed money’s new net long live cattle … Read More

The US inventory of all hogs and pigs on June 1, was a record 79.634 million head, up 3.909 million, or 5.16%, from 75.725 million a year earlier, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service said Thursday in its Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report. The June 1 number also was up 2.005 million head, or 2.58%, … Read More

It’s no secret that US meat production was down in April as packing plant after packing plant closed because of the COVID-19 virus, but a look at the numbers drives the point home. The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service said monthly beef, pork and poultry production plummeted in April, dropping well below last year and … Read More