Large commodity investment funds, called managed money, cut their net long live cattle futures position for the third straight week in the week ended Monday to the lowest level in 3 ½ months. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission revealed the data in its weekly Commitments of Traders report on Friday. Managed money cut its net … Read More

So much for “meatless Mondays.”  US annual per capita red meat and poultry consumption has been climbing since 2014 and is projected to continue climbing through next year. Total red meat and poultry consumption in the US doesn’t seem to waver a lot from year to year.  However, total red meat and poultry consumption is … Read More

Fed cattle markets definitely are in the middle of the summer swoon. Fed cattle prices moved lower in June, finishing at $118.86 per cwt in the Southern Plains, down $17.46, or 12.8%, from $136.32 in the last week of May. While the average weekly price remained just above last year’s, the ratcheting down of cattle … Read More

The pork cutout value certainly is high, and it’s up in spite of high production, but the cutout is not out of line with historical averages. As of the last week in June, the cutout was not quite up to the 2011-2015 average, even though production continued to run above last year and the 2011-2015 … Read More

Managed money, or large commodity investment funds, cut their net long live cattle futures position in the week ended Tuesday as cattle owners trimmed their net short position. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission made the revelation in its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday. Managed money’s new live cattle futures position as of Tuesday was … Read More

It was a record high, but since much of Thursday’s quarterly Hogs and Pigs report from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service came in near expectations, little market reaction was expected in Friday’s futures trade. At 71.65 million head, total hog inventories in the US were the highest June 1 inventory since records began in … Read More

Estimated Kansas feedlot closeouts for May were up, which was counter to last year, but the jump in average head marketed to packers actually followed a seasonal trend. That seasonal tendency continues to rise through June before leveling off in July, according to data gathered by the Kansas State University Extension Service.  The data is … Read More