Reading the live cattle deliveries report from the CME Group can be daunting, but heavy deliveries are highlighting its importance this month. Even traders who have at one time or another made or received delivery of a live cattle futures contract can’t explain the whole thing.  Some said the rules for delivery of a CME … Read More

Managed money, a proxy for large commodity investment firms, expanded their collective net long live cattle futures position during the week ended Tuesday as hedgers grew their combined net short position. Both were the largest positions each class of traders had for more than a year. The data came from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s … Read More

Prospects for farm income and agricultural credit conditions rebounded sharply in the fourth quarter of 2020, after a survey of farm lenders. The average price of corn, soybeans and wheat increased more than 20% from the previous quarter, and reached six-year highs in December.  Livestock prices, while still less than a year ago, also improved … Read More

The USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, Global Market Analysis report Tuesday said that with record corn imports forecast this month at 24.0 million tonnes for 2020/21, China’s demand for feedstuffs continues to rise as its swine herd recovers from African Swine Fever.   HIGH CORN PRICES SUPPORT SUBSTITUTION   High corn prices are supporting record feed … Read More

The USDA Tuesday raised its estimate of 2020 red meat and poultry production from the January report and raised its estimate of 2021 production. The new estimates came in the USDA’s monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report and showed lowered production estimates only for 2020 beef.  All other meat types showed increases in … Read More

2020 US beef and pork exports were “outstanding,” in the words of the US Meat Export Federation, with pork shattering previous records. The conclusions came after the USDA released the December and 2020 export data, and the USMEF compiled them. USMEF President Dan Halstrom credited a buying surge from China for the record performance in … Read More

Large commodity investment funds, known as managed money, and hedge traders took their respective net long and net short live cattle futures positions to their largest points in more than a year during the week ended Tuesday. The data came from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday, which summarized position … Read More