Large commodity investment funds, called managed money, reversed direction in the week ended Tuesday, increasing their collective net long live cattle futures position to its highest level in nearly six months, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday. The CFTC said managed money’s new net long position Tuesday came … Read More

The US beef cattle sector now is will into the cyclical adjustment phase, transitioning from aggressive herd expansion to very modest growth, said the Livestock Marketing Information Center in a post to county Extension Agents this week. A strong domestic economy and robust exports have buffered beef and cattle prices against near record-large US beef … Read More

The USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service said in a report that African Swine Fever in China, coupled with its wide distribution, virulence and ease of transmission could have a significant effect on China’s swine population and the availability of domestically produced pork. Chinese veterinary officials still are struggling to determine how the disease could pop up … Read More

The average October basis for fed cattle may be even weaker than last year after futures prices jumped higher on Friday and appear to be holding relatively flat through Tuesday. Basis is calculated by subtracting the futures delivery month price from the cash price.  The average live cattle futures price in July, for instance, was … Read More

Stress in agricultural lending within the Federal Reserve’s Tenth District has increased over the last three years, especially in areas with a heavy concentration of cattle and/or wheat production, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Stress may be compounded in areas of oil and gas production because of oil … Read More

Large commodity investment funds cut their collective net long live cattle futures position during the week ended Tuesday for the second straight week, bringing them to their lowest net long position in almost two months. The data came from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday. The report said … Read More

The US Foreign Agricultural Service in an analysis of the conditions in China said cattle and beef consumption and demand likely will continue to outpace domestic production, leading to a 10% increase in beef imports at 8.6 million tonnes.   CATTLE HERD DECLINING   China’s cow herd beginning stocks in 2019 were forecast by USDA … Read More