A blizzard rolled across eastern New Mexico and through the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles over the Christmas weekend, bringing heavy snow and cold temperatures that would stress cattle in the affected area. However, overall conditions were not as bad as was feared on Thursday. The Southeast seemed to get the worst of it in rain, … Read More
Hogs Recover From PEDv, Giving Cattle A Run
Pork production rose above beef production this year, and if the USDA’s quarterly hogs and pigs report is any indication, pork availability will continue for months to come. The USDA Wednesday reported record-high inventories of hogs and pigs on Dec. 1 with the breeding herd up about 1% from a year ago, the market hog … Read More
Beef To Continue Struggling
Tuesday’s USDA Cold Storage report reconfirmed that beef likely will continue to struggle for market share for some time. The report showed total stocks of beef in US freezers on Nov. 30 amounted to 510.5 million pounds, up 4.6 million, or 0.91%, from 505.9 million on Oct. 31, and up 109.7 million, or 27.4%, from … Read More
Most Cattle Fundamentals Unchanged
Live and feeder cattle futures shot limit up the last two trading sessions based on lighter-than-expected feedlot populations, but no other major fundamental factor has changed for either market. Supplies continue to outpace demand, cash prices for cattle and beef continue to fall, and post-holiday, winter demand typically is lackluster. Red meat production also is … Read More
Managed Money Raises Stake In Cattle
Managed money increased its net long position in cattle for the fourth straight week, rising to 15,410 contracts from 12,310 the previous week, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. The weekly Commitments of Traders report released Friday for the week ended Tuesday said the new net long position of managed money, or large speculators, … Read More
Consumers Schizophrenic About Meat Buying
It seems consumers are becoming more schizophrenic about their meat and poultry purchasing. On the one hand, they are willing to pay more for meat and poultry, but on the other, they seem to be angling toward less expensive products. Oklahoma State University’s monthly Food Demand Survey showed consumers were willing to pay more for … Read More
Food-Production Antibiotic Use Rises With Animal Population
It seems livestock and poultry producers can’t get away from antibiotic use totally as the US Food and Drug Administration last week released data showing last year’s antibiotic use rose with the populations of cattle and hogs. The “2014 Summary Report on Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed for Use in Food-Producing Animals” shows domestic sales and … Read More