Choice beef production took a dip in the second week of June, but it’s too early to tell if it’s an outlying move or a seasonal peak coming early. There are those who say that an aggressive slaughter rate by beef packers is pulling down the percentage of cattle yielding choice carcasses.  Perhaps it is, … Read More

A month after cash cattle prices topped out for the season, the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service reported a peak in whole broiler chicken prices just ahead of the dog days of summer. In many respects, chicken is a bigger competitor to beef for consumer protein dollars than is pork, even though pork is a red … Read More

Large commodity investment funds, called managed money, trimmed their net long live cattle futures position during the week ended Tuesday as commercial traders cut their net short position. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, in its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday said that as of Tuesday, managed money’s net long position was 127,086 contracts, down … Read More

Thursday’s Cold Storage report from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service was bullish for cattle futures and neutral to friendly for lean hog futures, Market analysts said. On-hand supplies of beef, pork and pork bellies on May 31 were down significantly from a month ago and a year ago.  One mitigating factor for red meat … Read More

Stephen Koontz, agricultural and resource economist at Colorado State University, is recommending producers who anticipate selling calves in the fall purchase some price protection in the form of options. Koontz make his recommendation in this week’s In the Cattle Markets for the Livestock Marketing Information Center.  In the article, he says the market is giving … Read More

Strong wholesale beef prices were cited for pulling cash cattle and then futures markets higher this spring, but now it seems limp cash cattle and seasonalities are dragging on beef markets. The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service reported the average cutout price for choice 600- to 900-pound beef carcasses last week was an annual high of … Read More

Good farm management often is the difference between profit and loss, with a knowledge of production costs and crop insurance the keys to good farm management, said a Farm Credit Services of America survey. FCSAmerica, a financial cooperative owned by agricultural producers, announced the survey results on its website.  The results shed light on the … Read More