Cattle carcass weights will rise seasonally in the remainder of the year, but slaughter rates were expected to decline, resulting in 4% to 5% less beef production than the same period last year, said Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension livestock marketing specialist, in a newsletter titled Cow/Calf Corner. The lower steer and heifer carcass … Read More

Partially explaining the strength in US beef demand, data show the US economy posted its first year over year gain in the first quarter of 2021 after three straight quarters of year-on-year decline, the Livestock Marketing Information Center said in a letter to Extension agents called In The Cattle Markets. That indicated the US was … Read More

Monthly Kansas feedlot closeouts, or sales to packers, now appear to be following the five-year trend after more than a year of gyrations initiated by the COVID pandemic. Closeouts increased from the previous month in May and June at rates that reflect the 2015-2019 average, according to data from a monthly survey of select Kansas … Read More

Managed money, a proxy for large commodity investment funds, expanded their collective net long live cattle futures position during the week ended Tuesday while hedgers enlarged their collective net short positions. The data came from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday.   FUNDS GO LONG CATTLE   Managed money’s collective … Read More

It’s all over the news, especially in cattle country:  The US Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings this week looking at examining what many see as a lack of competition in the cattle markets. Whether anything comes of the hearings, or if legislated changes turn out to be good for the industry, independent cattle producers, packers … Read More

Non-land costs for 2022 corn and soybean production were projected to be at record highs, said University of Illinois Economists Gary Schnitkey, Krista Swanson and Nick Paulson in a report for the Illinois farmdocdaily. Such “reasonably optimistic projections” could be made for 2022 corn and soybean returns based on projected corn and soybean prices being … Read More

Matthew Diersen, risk and business management specialist for the Ness School of Management and Economics, South Dakota State University, said, “There are several ways to manage price risk when marketing cattle.” Some producers spread out sale dates, while others use forward contracts, Diersen said in a newsletter to Extension agents from the Livestock Marketing Information … Read More