Overall US hay stocks are up from last year but still below average, said Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Agricultural Economist, in a letter to Extension Agents called Cow/Calf Corner. Weather challenges last year led to questions about the quantity and quality of hay production and supply, Peel said. But now, USDA reports provide a … Read More
US Hog Industry Bigger, More Productive
The USDA’s December Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report indicated that on Dec. 1, the US hog industry was bigger and more productive than it was a year earlier. For the fifth straight year, the Dec. 1 inventory of marketing hogs was the highest since the series began in 1963, at almost 71 million head, 3.1% … Read More
Funds Raise Net Long Cattle Position
Large commodity investment firms, called managed money, increased their collective net long position in live cattle futures during the week ended last Tuesday while hedgers advanced their net short position. The data came in the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday. Managed money’s new long position in live cattle was 79,212 … Read More
USDA Raises Q4 2019 Beef Production Estimate
The USDA’s Economic Research Service Thursday said in its monthly Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook that its fourth-quarter 2019 beef production estimate was adjusted upward by 15 million pounds to 7.0 billion from the December report, raising estimated annual production to 27.2 billion pounds. NON-FED SLAUGHTER UP SHARPLY The increase was based on … Read More
USTR Gives Snapshot Of Phase 1 Trade Deal
It looks like US agriculture was the main beneficiary of the “Phase 1” agreement with China that was signed Wednesday. With the signing, the US Trade Representative’s office published a fact sheet about what was in the trade agreement. The pact requires structural reforms and other changes to China’s economic and trade regime in the … Read More
Kansas Feedlots Sell More Cattle To Packers
The number of cattle sold to beef packers from Kansas feedlots in November rose from the seasonal low in October but continue to run less than a year ago. The information came from data accumulated by the Kansas State University Extension Service in a monthly survey of selected feedlots around the state. The data was … Read More
US Livestock Could Capitalize On ASF-Reduced World Supplies
Livestock markets this year look to capitalize on reduced world protein supplies associated with African swine fever in Asia, according to Todd Hubbs, agricultural economist at the University of Illinois, in a presentation at the Illinois Farm Economics Summit in December. Hubbs said he expected robust exports through the year. Domestic meat demand also remains … Read More