Cow prices have garnered attention in recent weeks as price forecasts and projections specific to cull cows are uncommon, said Matthew Diersen, risk and business management specialist at South Dakota State University, in a Livestock Marketing Information Center letter called In The Cattle Markets. However, the Economic Research Service provides a quarterly forecast for cutter … Read More

Canada’s monthly cattle on feed Aug. 1 declined seasonally but continued to widen the gap between 2024 totals and both last year and the 2018-2022 average. The data is collected by CanFax, a division of the Canadian Cattle Association from feedlots in Alberta and Saskatchewan.  Most of the collected data is kept and distributed to … Read More

For the first half of the year, beef exports decreased 4.5% year over year, said Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, in a letter called Cow-Calf Corner. That followed a 14.3% year over year decrease in 2023, down from record beef exports in 2022, Peel said.  Beef exports continue to follow current … Read More

Large commodity index firms, or managed money, cut their collective net long live cattle futures position in the week ended Tuesday as cattle owners reduced their total net long position. That was from the weekly Commitments of Traders report by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Friday.   FUNDS SELL CATTLE   Managed money, Tuesday, had … Read More

The July Consumer Price Index by the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the All-Items CPI was 2.9% higher than a year ago, said the Livestock Marketing Information Center’s Livestock Monitor. This was the first time the inflation rate has been less than 3% since March 2021 when it was 2.6%, the LMIC said.  In July, … Read More

The USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service predicted in a report that Brazilian cattle slaughter will decline next year because of a forecasted start of the reversion of the cattle cycle. Producers there likely will start retaining cattle in 2025, driving calf prices upwards, the FAS said. Also, record beef exports were forecast for 2024 and 2025, … Read More

The August USDA Cattle on Feed report, combined with other USDA data, suggests a more robust US beef demand than is implied by other metrics, a market analyst said by email Tuesday. Steer and heifer slaughter and carcass weights are up significantly from a year ago, yet the market provides enough margin for a higher … Read More