The USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service has forecast China’s 2018 beef and broiler meat imports from the US are forecast to rise 11% and 7%, respectively. However, in a report that was approved by the USDA’s World Outlook Board, the FAS said despite robust Chinese demand coupled with stagnant or declining production, additional growth in imports … Read More
2018 Meat, Poultry Production Seen Higher
Red meat and poultry production is likely to increase in 2018, along with pork packer capacity and all packer margins, although prices will depend on product demand, said a well-known market analyst Wednesday. John Nalivka, president and owner of Sterling Marketing Inc., said in a webinar sponsored by the North American Meat Institute that he … Read More
Consumers Focus On Flavorful Meats
Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicates that consumers are trending to focus their meat buying more and more on the most flavorful meat items, which bodes well for the cattle and beef industries. University of Missouri Agricultural Economist Scott Brown made the statement in a review of the Bureau’s statistics on which meats consumers are … Read More
Large Beef, Pork, Chicken Supplies Squeeze Turkey Consumption
Turkey consumption is on a path to decline by about 1% this year compared with 2016, and market analysts lay this at the foot of large competing meat supplies. The Livestock Marketing Information Center pointed out in the “Livestock Monitor” that first-quarter 2017 domestic turkey use was up 4% to 5% from Q1 2016, but … Read More
Funds Cut Long Cattle Position Again
Managed money, a proxy for large commodity investment funds, made further cuts to their net long live cattle position in the week ended Tuesday, while commercial traders made a minor extension to their net short position. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday for the week ended Tuesday said that managed … Read More
Price Push Past November High May Be Hard
It may be difficult for cattle feeders to maintain the market strength to push prices higher than the seasonal top set the first week of November. In that week, the weighted average fed cattle price was $124.70 per cwt on a live basis, according to the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service and compiled by the Denver-based … Read More
Stock Cattle Industry Hard To Pin Down
The stocker industry is difficult to define, understand, or even identify, data from an Oklahoma State University/USDA survey showed. Earlier this year, OSU, in conjunction with USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the National Agricultural Statistics Service, conducted a survey of Oklahoma cattle producers. Derrell Peel, OSU Extension livestock marketing specialist, wrote of … Read More