Managed money, or large investment funds, trimmed their net long live cattle position for the second straight week during the week ended Tuesday, while producers and other commercial traders extended their net short positions. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission Friday said that for the week ended Tuesday, managed money’s net long live cattle position was … Read More

8-26-16 – This week, hordes of crop analysts, observers and hangers-on have swept through Midwestern corn and soybean fields in their annual attempt to gauge the progress of the crops first-hand.  What they have found is just what the USDA has said was there all along – good crops that are ready to produce bumper … Read More

At first glance, rising slaughter cattle carcass weights are cause for concern among market analysts, but while they shouldn’t be discounted completely, summer gains are predictable and seasonal, said a university Extension economist. Derrell Peel, extension livestock economist at Oklahoma State University said in a market comment that the cattle industry should keep an eye … Read More

Total red meat supplies as of Aug. 1 in US freezers were up 3% from July but were down 2% from last year, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service said in its monthly Cold Storage report Monday. Total pounds of beef in cold storage were up 3% from July and up 2% from last year … Read More

Current feeder cattle prices suggest a strong stocker signal and a potential retained ownership signal for cow/calf producers, at least through the stocker phase, said a prominent university Extension livestock marketing specialist. Derrell Peel of Oklahoma State University penned a market outlook that said retained ownership of calves into the feedlot also may have potential … Read More

Commodity investment funds, called managed money, reduced their net long live cattle position during the week ended Tuesday, ending a six-week string of gains that took them to their largest net long position in more than a year. Those who handle the cattle, called commercials, covered a small portion of their net short positions in … Read More

The difference, or spread, between wholesale choice and select beef prices continues to narrow but is due for a seasonal upturn. USDA Agricultural Marketing Service data compiled by the Livestock Marketing Information Center through last week shows the choice/select spread has dropped sharply since its unusual peak the first week of June at $23.81.  Since … Read More