Prior to the border closing in November 2024, annual US imports of Mexican cattle had averaged 1.18 million head in the previous decade and 1.12 million head per year in the previous 35 years, said Oklahoma State University Extension Marketing Specialist Derrell Peel. Mexican cattle imports equaled 3.4% of the total US calf crop from … Read More

Chicken, it seems, is gaining popularity around the world. Tyson Foods reported Monday that the company made enough in its chicken segment in the second quarter of its fiscal year to overcome continued losses in the firm’s beef business. A market analyst said the growth in the popularity of chicken as the center-of-the-plate protein could … Read More

During the week ended Tuesday, large commodity index funds, or managed money, trimmed their collective net long live cattle futures position as cash traders added to their total net short position. That was the result of data contained in the weekly Commitments of Traders report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.   FUNDS SHAVE NET … Read More

The Canadian cattle herd has entered the consolidation phase, according to a Global Agricultural Information Network report from the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service attaché in Ottawa.   HEIFER RETENTION RISING   In a semi-annual report, the attaché said heifer retention practices in 2025 and a slight increase to the breeding herd to begin 2026 will … Read More

Last year could turn out to be the high-water mark in US beef disappearance and per-capita US beef consumption, according to estimates by the Livestock Marketing Information Center in Denver. Total beef disappearance in 2024 and 2025 surpassed 2022’s total, but it is projected lower this year and next year, even though 2026’s estimated disappearance … Read More

First appearing in Farm Progress, this article by University of Missouri Extension Ag Business Specialist Wesley Tucker was graciously allowed to be reprinted by Farm Progress.   There is an ongoing debate about whether men who are economists wear boxers or briefs.  The reality is we wear Depends. (I have two degrees in agricultural economics, … Read More

During the week ended last Tuesday, April 21, large commodity investment firms, known as managed money, pared their collective net long live cattle futures position, as cash cattle traders trimmed their total net short position. That was deduced from data contained in the weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. … Read More