June’s sales to beef packers from Kansas feedlots declined counter seasonally from May and came to a point that was lower than last year and the 2014-2018 average for the month. The information came from a Kansas State University Extension Service survey of selected feedlots across the state. This data then was compiled and extrapolated … Read More
Funds Keep Buying Cattle Futures
Large commodity investment firms, called managed money in the trade, extended their collective net long live cattle futures positions in the week ended Tuesday, Aug. 4, for the third straight week. The data came from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday. Managed money’s new long live cattle position last Tuesday … Read More
June Pork, Beef Exports Down
June pork exports fell below year-ago levels for the first time this year but first-half shipments remained on a record pace for 2020, according to data released by the USDA and compiled by the US Meat Export Federation. June beef exports were down sharply from a year ago, reflecting the lingering effect of slower production … Read More
Farm Lending Slows With COVID, Pessimistic Outlooks
Farm lending slowed alongside the initial effects of the pandemic and a more pessimistic outlook for agricultural economic conditions, said a release from the Federal Reserve Bank on Kansas City’s Omaha, Neb., branch. The volume of total non-real estate farm loans continued into a year-long trend of declines during the second quarter of 2020, the … Read More
Beef Demand Hinges On Macroeconomics: Economist
Consumer beef demand going forward will depend largely on the larger economy and the status of economic support in the wake of pandemic disruptions, said Oklahoma State University Agricultural Economist Derrell Peel in a letter to Extension agents called Cow/Calf Corner. The economy was wracked like never before in the first half of the year, … Read More
July Farmer Sentiment Unchanged
Farmer sentiment was virtually unchanged in July in comparison to a month earlier, according to the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer, said a university release. The index rose just one point from June to a reading of 118, still 30% lower than in February before the pandemic began affecting the agricultural economy, the survey … Read More
Set-Asides No Longer Good Farm Policy: Economists
Acreage set-asides are being discussed as a farm price-support policy, yet reducing US production could lead to loss of world market share, said a group of agricultural economists from the University of Illinois and Ohio State University in a study published by Illinois farmdocdaily. World production of corn and soybeans increased significantly in the past … Read More