Managed money, a proxy for large commodity investment funds, augmented their collective net long live cattle futures position in the week ended Tuesday as hedgers increased their net short position. The data came from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday. FUNDS BOOST LONG CATTLE POSITION As of Tuesday, … Read More
FAS Revises Mexican Corn, Wheat Production Forecast Downward
The USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service last week revised downward its estimate of 2020/21 Mexican wheat and corn production while boosting slightly the estimate for sorghum production. But US export prospects to fill any production gaps were muddied by a Dec 31 decree calling for a phase-out of the use of glyphosate and genetically modified corn … Read More
Choice/Select Spread Widening Counter-Seasonally
The difference between wholesale prices for USDA choice- and select-grade beef, known as the choice/select spread, is widening counter-seasonally, USDA data show. Data from the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service and compiled by the Livestock Marketing Information Center in Denver showed that the choice/select spread last week averaged $11.42 per cwt. This was up $1.17 per … Read More
Rising Corn Prices Will Bring Cattle Market Changes: Peel
“The cure for high prices is high prices,” the old saying goes, and rising corn prices will produce belt-tightening among its users to limit costs and ensure adequate supplies. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University agricultural economist, wrote in a letter to Extension agents called Cow/Calf Corner that higher corn prices provide incentives for feedlots to … Read More
Managed Money Cuts Long Cattle Position
Large commodity index funds, known as managed money, cut their collective net long live cattle futures position in the week ended Tuesday, Jan. 5, for the second straight week, while hedgers expanded their combined net short position. The data came from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday. … Read More
Farm Loan Volume Down, Average Size Up: Federal Reserve Bank
Despite an average size increase, fewer new loans to farmers in the fourth quarter continued to drive a pullback in overall non-real estate agricultural lending activity, said Ty Kreitman and Cortney Cowley, economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in an analysis on the Bank’s website. The results come from the latest National … Read More
November Kansas Feedlot Sales Post Counter-Seasonal Decline
In a counter-seasonal move, Kansas feedlot sales of slaughter-ready cattle to beef packers in November declined from October, according to data gathered by the Kansas State University Extension Service and compiled and published by the Livestock Marketing Information Center in Denver. However, other metrics of Kansas feedlot activity in November reflected seasonal trends. The K-State … Read More