Total 2017 red meat and poultry production will be record high again this year at about 52.1 billion pounds on a carcass weight basis, but it will be led by pork and chicken, according to projections by the Livestock Marketing Information Center. Using USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service data, the LMIC projected production increases through … Read More

Southern Plains average annual fed cattle and feeder steer calf prices are projected to decline into 2019 with only a minor wrinkle higher this year in fed steer prices. Using USDA Agricultural Marketing Service data, the Livestock Marketing Information Center projected the declines. The spike years of 2013, 2014 and 2015 are in the rear-view … Read More

Large commodity investment funds, called managed money, trimmed their net long live cattle futures position as producers whittled away at their net short position for the 10th straight week. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday that for the week ended Tuesday, managed money’s net long live cattle … Read More

Choice beef demand is rising. This week’s upward turn in the spread between choice and select beef prices, compared with the rising percentage of choice versus select beef production shows that buyers are willing to pay more for choice product in spite of a rising supply.   CHOICE/SELECT SPREAD TURNING UP   The USDA’s choice/select … Read More

Current and expected fed cattle prices have declined by about $10 per cwt over the past five weeks, said Josh Maples, assistant professor of agricultural economics at Mississippi State University, in the Livestock Marketing Information Center’s “In the Cattle Markets.” The decline has eroded the projected profitability for feedlots through the rest of the year, … Read More

Total red meat supplies in US freezers as of July 31 amounted to 1.030 billion pounds, 13 million, or up 1.28% from 1.017 billion on June 30 but were down 88 million, or 7.87% from 1.118 billion last year, according to the August Cold Storage report from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service Tuesday.   … Read More

The August Crop Production report surprised many by forecasting 2017 corn production at 14.153 billion bushels, said Todd Hubbs, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in an article titled “Weekly Outlook: Assessing the Prospects for 2017 Corn Production” in the university’s publication farmdoc daily.  Below is a summary of the rest of his outlook. … Read More