Like a huge backup from a wreck on the interstate that takes hours to clear up and more hours to return to a normal traffic flow, the US cattle and meat industries are backing up, and it may take years to clear. And even though President Trump ordered meat packing plants to reopen, designating them … Read More

In the wake of COVID-19’s devastation to the cattle industry, some are calling for greater market oversight, but a well-known agricultural economist says to be careful what you wish for. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University agricultural economist, said in a letter to Extension Agents called Cow/Calf Corner that COVID-19 had resulted in price changes and … Read More

It looks like Canada’s feedlots are beginning their seasonal decline in cattle populations a month early, forgoing a seasonal bump in April 1 inventories. The report of the number of cattle on feed in Canada is put out by the private market advisory firm CanFax, and the data for the total number on feed along … Read More

Large commodity investment firms, called managed money, added to their collective net long position in the week ended Tuesday but still keeping barely above a net short position, according to the weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Managed money’s net long position Tuesday was only 1,806 contracts, up 1,723, … Read More

Lower fed cattle prices resulted from packing plant closures as employees there increasingly succumbed to the Covid-19 virus, but how long it will last is the $64,000 question. Stephen Koontz, agricultural economist at Colorado State University, tackled this in the Livestock Marketing Information Center’s letter to Extension agents called In The Cattle Markets.  This is … Read More

Total US frozen red meat supplies on March 31 were down about 2% from the previous month but up about 7% from last year, but all of the decline was in pork supplies, according to Wednesday’s monthly Cold Storage report from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Total pounds of beef in US freezers were … Read More

The outlook for corn markets is becoming very hard to see.  Economists and market analysts can’t agree because too many things are in flux. Even the local café is closed so it’s not possible to gain insight from even the town know-it-all. All kidding aside, analysts say there are about three major things to watch … Read More