Stock index futures declined Monday, and amid the reasons among market analysts was expectations of a hike in the fed funds rate by the Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday. Among other things, the FOMC raises or lowers the base interest rate to help control inflation, either to speed it up or to slow it … Read More

Large commodity investment funds, called managed money, trimmed its net long live cattle position for the third straight week during the week ended Tuesday. The data was released Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday. The CFTC said managed money’s net long live cattle futures position Tuesday … Read More

The latest analysis of national and global agricultural trends from the University of Missouri’s Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute indicates little change in net farm income this year and a slight increase in 2019. This projects to about $60 billion for the third straight year this year. Each March, economists with the Food and … Read More

Import data for all of 2017 shows the US is a relatively small importer of meat and dairy products, which is consistent with past years, the USDA’s Economic Research Service said in its monthly Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook Wednesday.   CATTLE/BEEF   In 2017, US beef imports were 11.3% of total domestic disappearance.  In … Read More

Wholesale boxed beef prices are about to turn lower for a few weeks before turning higher into the high point of the year, if they follow seasonal norms. Data from the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service shows a seasonal top the second week of March before dipping to the seasonal low the second week of April.  … Read More

January exports of US beef and veal were significantly higher than the large totals of a year ago while pork exports were steady in volume and increased in value, according to data released by the USDA and compiled by the US Meat Export Federation. Beef exports totaled 105,486 tonnes in January, up 9% from a … Read More

Large commodity investment funds, called managed money, lowered their collective net long live cattle futures position for the second straight week as of Tuesday as producer types cut their net short position. The data came in the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday for the week ended Tuesday.  In the report, … Read More