The annual peak for slaughter steer prices may have just passed, according to USDA/Agricultural Marketing Service data. If the peak isn’t in already, it should come about the last week of April or the first week of May, the data show.  But even then, it likely won’t be much higher than the most recent weekly … Read More

Large commodity investment funds, known as managed money, extended their collective net long live cattle position to another record high during the week ended last Tuesday.  It was their 18th week of larger net long positions in 19 weeks. The data came in the weekly Commitments of Traders report from the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, … Read More

The Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report from the USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics Service Thursday was interpreted bearishly by futures traders and could be the nexus for even more price pressure in coming weeks, a market analyst said. The US inventory of all hogs and pigs on March 1 was a record high for period at … Read More

Unless things change, there are likely to be few, if any cattle deliveries against the Apr live cattle futures contract. The basis, or the difference between the cash price and the expiring futures price, is too narrow for many producers to go to the trouble and expense of delivering against the futures contract.  In short, … Read More

Even before the shank of the winter’s furry with its heavy snow and subsequent flooding, more Minnesota farmers were ready to give up after 2018, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis’ Fourth-Quarter Agricultural Conditions Survey. Given the role of strong harvests in bolstering farm incomes, some lenders expressed concerns about that luck running … Read More

Canada’s beef cow numbers and slaughter activity will see contraction continue in 2019 but with the pace mitigated by reduced cow slaughter, growth in the calf crop and increased import activity, according to a report by USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Staff. The staff, part of the Global Agricultural Information Network, said, the Canadian swine industry … Read More

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service Friday said the total amount of red meat in US cold storage on Feb. 28 was up about 2%, while total poultry stocks were about steady, with a year ago. Specifically, total red meat in the nation’s freezers came to 1.140 billion pounds, up 20.0 million, or 1.79%, from … Read More