The USDA Thursday said in its monthly Cold Storage report that total red meat supplies in freezers were down about 4% from the June report and down 8% from last year. Total frozen poultry supplies on June 30 were up about 2% from the previous month but down about 15% from a year ago.  Total … Read More

Based on average interest rates for agricultural loans, the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank says the outlook for the agricultural economy this year remains strong. In a release, bank economists Nathan Kauffman and Ty Kreitman said, “Interest rates on agricultural loans made by commercial banks increased slightly for some types of lending but remained historically … Read More

The Illinois Farm Policy News reported that China’s pork production had grown in the second quarter as thousands of new breeding farms last year came on line to rebuild a herd hit hard by African Swine Fever culls and deaths. Quoting a Reuters story, the FPN said “China’s second-quarter pork production surged to its highest … Read More

Someone once said everybody works for someone else, and in the food-production industry, that someone is the consumer, and the trend could have bearish implications for cattle and beef producers. Paying attention to the consumer’s point of view is instructive, a market analyst said.  One of the ways market participants and analysts in the US … Read More

Large commodity index funds, known as managed money, cut their collective net long live cattle futures position for the third straight week in the week ended Tuesday as hedgers trimmed their net short positions. The data came from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday, which lists the collective trading positions … Read More

The US experienced the extremes in weather this week, with expansion of drought in the West, a robust Southwest monsoon, a tropical storm making landfall in the Southeast and extreme flooding in southeastern Texas, said the National Weather Service with its weekly Drought Monitor Thursday. In the West, mid-level ridging has resulted in much-above-normal temperatures … Read More

To anyone who’s been paying attention, the choice boxed beef cutout value reported by the USDA has been falling, but many may not have noticed that the difference between choice and select beef prices has been dropping even faster. Since peaking at $37.22 in the second week of June, that difference, known as the choice/select … Read More