Wet weather has been a welcome relief for many areas of the country over the last few weeks, but the drought isn’t over, wrote Will Secor, Extension livestock economist at the University of Georgia, in a letter for the Livestock Marketing Information Center. “In particular, rains in late October and early November alleviated drought or … Read More

The 2024 Livestock Marketing Information Center’s Retail All Fresh Beef Demand Index may be up if fourth-quarter statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the USDA’s Economic Research Service follow the trend of the first three. The retail pork demand annual index showed more variation through the first three quarters of this year, yielding … Read More

Total red meat supplies in freezers on Oct. 31 were down about 2% from the previous month and down about 3% from last year, said the USDA’s monthly Cold Storage report. Total frozen poultry supplies on Oct. 31 were down about 7% from the previous month and down about 6% from a year ago.   … Read More

Feeder cattle supplies just got a little tighter. The US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service over the weekend clamped import restrictions on cattle and bison from Mexico after a case of New World Screwworm was confirmed in a cow in Chiapas state, which is near the Guatemalan border. The US hasn’t had a reported … Read More

Large commodity index funds, otherwise known as managed money, increased their collective net long live cattle futures position in the week ended Tuesday, their ninth straight week of increases. In its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission also said hedgers trimmed their total net short live cattle position.   FUNDS … Read More

US commercial red meat production totaled 5.024 billion pounds in October, up 250 million, or 5.24% from the 4.774 billion produced in October 2023, the USDA said Thursday in its Livestock Slaughter report. October’s commercial red meat production also was up 573 million pounds, or 12.9%, from September’s 4.451 billion pounds. The totals included beef, … Read More

The October USDA Cattle on Feed report estimated heifers made up nearly 40% of all cattle on feed, a signal of producer intentions about retaining heifers as replacements, said Rob Ziegler, Extension specialist at the University of Wyoming. Writing for the Livestock Marketing Information Center, Ziegler said consensus is that the heifer mix needs to … Read More