Ahead of the USDA’s monthly Cattle-On-Feed report due for release on Friday, market analysts estimated that the number of young cattle placed into feedlots during May was 7.2% below last May at 1.772 million head.  This would continue a pattern of lower placements that many link to fewer heifers being sent to the feedlots. However, … Read More

Some groups point to USDA statistics about how cattle are sold to packers for slaughter and say sellers are giving the buyers too much control over weekly fed cattle prices, and that it’s hard to tell what cattle are really worth. Others will say that enough open negotiation continues each week to make pricing determinations. … Read More

Amid continued tight supplies and strong demand, feeder cattle prices remain at historically high levels in many parts of the country, especially those near pasture.  What’s more, market analysts say these prices likely will remain high into next year. This year is a transition year, one where ranchers and farmers change from continually whittling their … Read More

Managed money virtually maintained its net long position in live cattle futures during the week ended Tuesday as futures prices and open interest rose. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission Friday released its latest report on the total commitments of traders as of Tuesday.  It shows managed money, or large speculative firms, with a net long … Read More

While many believe rising pork and poultry production and steady to lower beef production will cause price spreads to widen and consumers to switch beef purchases to competing meats, such notions are not chiseled in stone. Glynn Tonser, associate professor of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University said there is no reason to believe such … Read More

The USDA Wednesday lowered its forecast for 2015 total meat production to 95.137 billion pounds from 95.583 billion but raised its estimate of 2016 production to 97.383 billion from 97.178 billion, saying 2015 beef production will not be as high as was estimated just a month ago. The USDA made its estimates known in its … Read More

Feeder cattle futures prices rose over the last few days, prompting some technicians to say nearby contracts are becoming overbought.  Any setback, however, likely will be minimized by tight cash supplies for the time being, but will fall to rising supplies later. The CME Feeder Cattle Index, a weighted average price of feeder cattle auctions … Read More