Funds Boost Long Cattle Position

Large commodity investment funds, called managed money, boosted their net long live cattle futures position in the week ended Tuesday for the third straight week.  At the same time, commercial traders advanced their net short position for the second week. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday that … Read More

Rising Hog Numbers Could Add Price Pressure To All Meats

Rising US hog inventories could put pressure on all red meat and poultry prices as the markets seek a place for the extra production. In the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service Thursday, it was reported that the US inventory of all categories of hogs, pigs, pig crop or … Read More

S. Plains Feeder Steers Up; Counter Last Year

Southern Plains feeder steer prices were moving higher last week, countering last year’s downward trend and exaggerating the 2011-2015 average, despite higher numbers that are ready to come in to the feed yards. The average weekly price for 700- to 800-pound medium and large No. 1 feeder steers in the third week of September was … Read More

ERS Sees 2017 Beef, Veal Prices Lower; 2018 Higher

The US Economic Research Service predicts beef and veal prices will decrease 1.0% to 2.0% this year but rise 1% to 2% in 2018, but sees cattle prices struggling. The ERS made the prediction in its latest Consumer Price Index report under the breakdown called “Food Price Outlook, 2017-18.”  It went on to say that … Read More

Strong Demand Mostly Offsetting Higher Beef Production

Strong demand is mostly offsetting increased beef supply this year and has a good chance of mitigating next year’s expected production increases, said Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University extension livestock marketing specialist, in the “Cow/Calf Corner,” an OSU Extension newsletter. The September USDA Cattle on Feed report pegged Sep. 1 feedlot inventory at 10.504 million … Read More

Frozen Beef Supplies Rise Counter-Seasonally

The amount of beef in US freezers rose counter-seasonally last month, but many might not see it since it closely matches the amount in cold storage a year earlier. The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service said Friday in its monthly Cold Storage report that the US had 476.260 million pounds of beef on ice, almost … Read More

Ag Price Outlook “Nuanced,” FAPRI Says

After several years of declining prices for many agricultural commodities, the outlook now is more nuanced, said a report from the University of Missouri’s Food & Agricultural Policy Research Institute called “Baseline Updates for US Agricultural Markets.”  This is a summary of the report. The report provides an update of the 2017 FAPRI-MU long-term baseline … Read More