Fed cattle prices finally surged last week to $108-110 per cwt in many cash markets, and to David Anderson, professor and extension economist at Texas A&M University, the move is overdue. Writing for the Livestock Marketing Information Center’s weekly In The Cattle Markets, Anderson said, high beef live-to-cutout spreads over the last couple of months, … Read More

Beef markets are following seasonal trends, for the most part, but actual prices differ significantly from last year and the 2010-2014 average.  Taken as a whole, they generally point to a normal realignment of prices for the various primal cuts after the New Year’s holiday.   RIBEYE MAY BE CHANGING   Of all the various … Read More

The new ethanol blend mandate from the Environmental Protection Agency last week is good for corn growers, not so good for livestock producers. The EPA’s 2017 Renewable Fuel Standard mandated a 1.2-billion-gallon increase in the amount of renewable fuels blended into the fuel supply next year to 19.28 billion, a 6% increase over current levels … Read More

US Feedlots continued a strong marketing pace in October with sales to packers up 4.6% year over year, despite one less business day in the month, said Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist in a release. October placements followed the September pattern with another 5% reduction from October 2015, Peel pointed out. … Read More

Total red meat supplies in cold storage as of Oct. 31 were down 3% from Sep. 30 but up 1% from a year earlier, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service’s monthly Cold Storage report Tuesday. The monthly report said beef supplies in US freezers amounted to 532.326 million pounds, up 13.304 million, or … Read More

Feeder cattle sales are beginning to pick up in the Southeast, even if producers would rather hold on to them a little longer. University of Tennessee Agricultural Economist Andrew Griffith said in his weekly comments that low prices in September and October had many producers hanging on to calves a little longer than normal.  However, … Read More

During the week ended Tuesday, commodity investment funds, or managed money, increased its net long live cattle futures position to its highest level since the week ended Aug 23 when it was 40,932 contracts. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report, Friday said managed money’s net long live cattle position as of … Read More