Managed money, a proxy for large commodity index funds, trimmed their collective net long live cattle futures position for the eighth straight week during the week ended Tuesday. At the same time, commercial traders, those who own, or will own, the cattle, covered more of their total net short position for as many weeks. The … Read More

The current rate of cow and heifer slaughter indicates continued herd liquidation, said Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension livestock marketing specialist, in a university letter called Cow-Calf Corner. The Jan. 1 USDA Cattle (Inventory) report included a beef cow herd of 28.9 million head, down 3.6% year over year and the smallest beef cow … Read More

On balance, economic activity slowed since the previous Beige Book report from the Federal Reserve Oct. 18, with four of the 12 districts reporting modest growth, two indicating conditions were flat to slightly lower and six noting some declines in activity. Those observations came with the latest Beige Book report on economic activity Wednesday.   … Read More

It looks like live cattle futures deliveries early next month may be limited to non-existent, a market analyst suggested. The weekly average five-market fed steer price from the USDA last week was $176.77 per cwt, while the Dec futures settlement price Tuesday was $171.85, for a basis (cash minus futures) of $4.92.  With cash prices … Read More

Agricultural credit conditions in the Federal Reserve Bank’s Tenth District softened during the third quarter, a Bank Report said. The report was authored by Kansas City Federal Reserve Economists Nate Kauffman and Ty Kreitman, located in the Omaha, Neb., branch.  The Federal Reserve’s Tenth District encompasses Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, the northern half of … Read More

Cattle markets continue the decline from September into November, said Stephen Koontz, Colorado State University agricultural economist at Colorado State University in a Livestock Marketing Information Center letter called In The Cattle Markets. Much of that movement lower could, and should, have been anticipated, Koontz said.  The underlying supply and demand fundamentals did not support … Read More

Total red meat supplies in US freezers on Oct. 31 were down slightly from the previous month and down about 14% from last year, said the USDA’s monthly Cold Storage report, which catalogs the amount of a host of commodities in freezers. Total pounds of beef in freezers were up about 6% from the previous … Read More