Hog producers are in trouble.  Even though China’s pork imports have surged, US producers are out-producing domestic and export markets, presenting a problem for beef producers. The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service count of all hogs and pigs is record high at 70.851 million head as of Sep. 1, yet prices for all weight categories … Read More

The US continues to have a healthy and growing presence in the international beef trade, according to two October USDA reports. The USDA’s Economic Research Service said August beef imports (the latest data) were down 49.979 million pounds, or 16.0% from 312.890 million a year earlier. August’s beef exports, on the other hand, were 235.5 … Read More

Cattle feeders appear to be selling finished cattle to packer buyers at a lower level of finish, or fatness, the opposite of what was taking place as late as the first quarter of this year. Dressed weights of slaughter steers are down from a year ago, and the gap continues to widen, indicating that cattle … Read More

Large investment funds, called managed money, trimmed their net long position in live cattle futures for the second straight week during the week ended Tuesday as futures made a short-term peak and moved lower. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, in its weekly Commitment of Traders report Friday, said managed money’s net long live cattle position … Read More

Disappointing cash cattle markets this week, ample supplies of market-ready cattle along with abundant stocks of competing meats pressured live cattle futures this week to three consecutive contract lows in the most-active Dec contract, and the carnage may not be done. Now, the market must deal with bearish momentum, which could add a fourth day … Read More

The USDA Wednesday reduced its estimate of this year’s total red meat and poultry production by 113 million pounds, or 0.12%, to 97.439 billion pounds from its estimate of 97.552 billion last month. However, all of the cuts came in a reduced estimate of chicken production, as the forecasts for total beef and pork production … Read More

Feedlot margins faded deeper into the red last week as fed cattle prices dipped.  At the same time, packer margins were calculated to have risen for the same reason. The Sterling Beef Profit Tracker by John Nalivka, president of Sterling Marketing Inc., and published by AgWeb, had feedlot margins for unhedged cattle sold last week … Read More