The Livestock Marketing Information Center in Denver last week projected average annual 2019 prices for steer calves, feeder steers and fed steers in the Southern Plains to decline from last year before rising slowly through 2021. The forecast was done using USDA Agricultural Marketing Service data, but was done without comment about why economists there … Read More

Large commodity investment funds, known in the trade as managed money, expanded their net long live cattle futures position during the week ended Tuesday but remain within striking distance of having an even position, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report on Friday. Managed money’s collective new cattle … Read More

Beef production has dipped below a year ago over the last couple of weeks, leading to some higher fed cattle prices and a widening of the already wide choice/select wholesale price spread from the USDA, said David Anderson, Extension agricultural economist for Texas A&M University, in a study for Extension agents from the Livestock Marketing … Read More

Various news agencies reported Wednesday that China was warning the US of “strong countermeasures” after a series of bills supporting the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong passed the House. The notice comes as the International Monetary Fund releases the results of a study saying the pace of global economic activity remains weak, in no small … Read More

Some analysts may say the live cattle futures market is overbought and due for a correction, but the cash market has some seasonal strength to work out. It’s true that weekly average cash prices for slaughter-ready steers in the Southern Plains are well below last year and the 2013-2017 average, but they are rising and … Read More

Amid the fight over real and fake meats is a reality that it probably will take animal and plant protein to feed a growing world population, said Oklahoma State University Agricultural Economist Derrell Peel in a letter to Extension agents called Cow/Calf Corner. Three conferences he attended last week included a widely discussed trend of … Read More

After punching into net-long territory a week earlier, managed money, or large commodity investment funds, extended their position during the week ended Tuesday. The information came in the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday. Managed money’s new cumulative net long live cattle position as of Tuesday stood at 7,675 contracts, up … Read More