Beef-on-dairy remains among the most discussed topics in the beef industry, according to a Livestock Marketing Information Center article called In The Cattle Markets. A question that has arisen lately is whether growth in beef-on-dairy has the potential to mask changes in cattle inventories in USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service reports. Specifically, the January and … Read More

With China’s President Xi agreeing the country would purchase more US chicken in coming months, it’s important to look at the current state of the Chinese market.  The USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service just happened to publish a periodic report on their market Thursday. China’s poultry and products import market contracted significantly in 2025, with total … Read More

The choice/select spread directly reflects the market value of quality, signaling how much buyers are willing to pay for cattle that grade USDA choice versus select, said Charley Martinez, agricultural economist, at the University of Tennessee in a Livestock Marketing Information Center letter called In The Cattle Markets.   WIDE VS NARROW/INVERTED SPREADS   When … Read More

The basis, or difference between the futures and cash price of fed cattle is something a futures contract cannot protect, yet it is crucial in relating futures to cash prices.   UNDERSTANDING BASIS   The basis is calculated by subtracting the futures price from the cash price.  A positive basis indicates the cash price exceeds … Read More

After a jump in placements of young cattle into Canadian feedlots in March and April, the number of cattle on feed there made a uncharacteristic jumps in April and May, according to data from CanFax. CanFax is a division of the Canadian Cattle Association, provides market analysis and trends in the North American beef markets.  … Read More

During the week ended Tuesday, large commodity index funds, called managed money, turned to liquidating a portion of their collective net long live cattle futures position, according to data from the weekly Commitments of Traders report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Friday. At the same cash cattle traders, or commercial traders, covered a portion … Read More

This week’s National Weather Service Drought Monitor showed almost all of the contiguous 48 states experiencing some form of abnormally dry conditions. The exception was the Corn and Soybean belt and most of North Dakota.  There also was a patch of central Texas that was rated as normal soil moisture.  Coastal California also looked mostly … Read More