Large commodity investment firms, called managed money, cut their collective net long live cattle futures position in the week ended Tuesday after reaching their highest point in 5 ½ months just the week before. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday that as of Tuesday, managed money’s net … Read More

US wheat futures prices Thursday were unable to sustain Wednesday’s rally after traders re-examined world stocks and decided that a big rally may be premature, although still feasible. Wheat prices also were pressured Thursday by investors reducing their Sep long positions with first notice day today, market analysts said. However, with tightening world supplies, there … Read More

More cows were culled in July than in recent years, according to data from the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, and prices took a hit. The Livestock Marketing Information Center reported that nearly all carcass grades of premium white, breaker, boner and cutter showed larger volumes when compared against July 2017.  Nationally the exception was premium … Read More

Cash prices for slaughter-ready hogs are tumbling, and many credit the decline to the cumulative effects of higher pork production and rising tariffs by major pork export markets. The average cash price paid by pork packers in Iowa and Southern Minnesota last week was $38.89 per cwt, said the Livestock Marketing Information Center after crunching … Read More

Just as the USDA announces the first round of trade aid to US farmers for trade lost in President Trump’s tariff wars with US trading partners, comes news from the President that the US and Mexico may be on the cusp of a new trade agreement. Monday, the USDA announced the first round of a … Read More

After a one-week break lower, large commodity investment funds, or managed money, have increased their collective net long live cattle futures position and their largest in five months. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report showed managed money had a net long position of 62,059 contracts as of Tuesday, up 7,118, or … Read More

Things really are not going well for pork packers and hog producers. With the new tariffs in place, Hormel Foods Corp. Thursday said its 2018 sales will fall below previous estimates, and Rabobank’s RaboResearch economists said in a release that packers are dealing with a shrinking labor pool.  All of this could mean lower market … Read More