As the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association calls on President Trump to investigate cattle and beef price relationships, the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker shows the widening rift between packer and feeder returns. Various news reports say the NCBA and Nebraska Senator Deb Fisher asked the president to investigate possible irregularities in the cattle markets over the … Read More

The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer recorded its largest one-month drop in farmer sentiment during March, Jim Mintert, Purdue University Agricultural Economist said in a release Tuesday. The barometer dipped 47 points to a reading of 121, as concerns over the effect of the Covid-19 global pandemic on the agricultural economy weighed on farmers’ … Read More

Kansas feedlots sold fewer cattle to beef packing plants in February than in January, but the rate of decline was less steep than either last year or the 2014-2018 average. The information came from a monthly survey of select Kansas feedlots by the Kansas State University Extension Service.  The data then was extrapolated to give … Read More

Managed money, a proxy for large commodity investment firms, cut their collective net short live cattle futures positions in the week ended Tuesday, almost coming back to a net-zero position, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data in the weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday. The new position for managed money Tuesday was short by … Read More

Feeder steer prices shot up last week as movement at auction barns dropped in response to lower prices and news of rapidly climbing feedlot losses, but it likely isn’t a trend. Cow/calf operators were said to be keeping feeder steers and heifers home to avoid selling at a loss for as long as possible.  There … Read More

This summary of the history of beef grading in the US was done by members of the Animal Science department at Texas A&M University, showing it goes back a long way.   EARLY DAYS   After suggestions for grading going back to 1902, Congress appropriated funds for the USDA to study agricultural marketing and to … Read More

The different patterns of boxed beef, fed and feeder cattle prices in the past six weeks illustrates the fact that these markets operate with very distinct dynamics, said Oklahoma State University Agricultural Economist Derrell Peel, in a letter to Extension Agents called Cow/Calf Corner. Those dynamics became very apparent as the distinction between the current … Read More