A debate is beginning to circulate in cattle trading circles that the beef market has reached, or nearly reached, support levels and will claw its way higher from here on, pulling fed cattle prices along for the ride. The $179.99 per cwt low in the USDA’s reported boxed beef cutout level seems like it could … Read More

Kansas feed yards slowed their sales to packer buyers in September in a dramatic way. The data came from a monthly survey of representative feedlots around the state.  These figures were then extrapolated and compiled by the Livestock Marketing Information Center to arrive at an approximate average for the whole state. Kansas feedlots in September … Read More

Managed money, or large commodity funds, boosted their net long position in live cattle futures during the week ended Tuesday for the second straight week. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday that for the week ended Tuesday, managed money held a net long position of 39,096 contracts, … Read More

Just past the half-way point in getting this fall’s calf crop marketed, the price weakness has been an eye-opener to Stephen Koontz, agricultural and resource economist at Colorado State University. Writing for the Livestock Marketing Information Center’s In the Cattle Markets, Koontz said, “I have spoken to producers that sold calves in October who received … Read More

USDA’s October Cattle on Feed report possessed some important implications about feeder cattle supply, said Nevil Speer, vice president of US operations for AgriClear Inc., a sholly owned subsidiary of TMX Group Ltd., in an article for Beef Magazine. What’s more, the coming on-feed report scheduled for Nov. 18 could be very important in terms … Read More

The question of why beef packers are paying higher prices for fed cattle and boosting the slaughter rate in spite of higher slaughter weights can be summed up in one word – profits. Estimates made by John Nalivka, president of Sterling Marketing Inc., and author of the weekly Sterling Beef Profit Tracker, point to very … Read More

Analysts debate the outlook for fed cattle prices for the rest of the year, with leaning slightly bullish and others expecting a continued bearish slide. Some market analysts said they expect to see steady to slightly stronger prices for the rest of the year and that the market’s low may have been set two weeks … Read More