US economic activity was little changed since the previous report on Oct. 15, according to most of the 12 Federal Reserve districts, though two districts noted a modest decline and one reported modest growth. The Federal Reserve Bank’s Beige Book, a periodic summary of economic activity, went on to say overall consumer spending declined further, … Read More

During the week ended Tuesday, Oct. 14, large commodity funds, known as managed money, had increased their collective net long live cattle futures position as cattle owners, or commercial traders boosted their total net short position. The data came from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Commitments of Traders report as the organization catches up on … Read More

Industry fears about the effect of packer losses and low cattle numbers were realized last week when Tyson Foods announced its intention to close the Lexington, Neb., beef packing plant, and that the Amarillo, Texas, plant would decrease to one shift from two in coming months. This will reduce industry slaughter capacity by roughly 7,000 … Read More

Large commodity index funds, known as managed money, nudged their collective net long live cattle position higher in the week ended Tuesday, Oct. 7, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in its Commitments of Traders report Friday. In that same week, cattle hedgers, or commercial traders, increased their total net short position. The CFTC is … Read More

The USDA finally released August red meat export data that was delayed by the government shutdown.  Compiled by the US Meat Export Federation, August data showed a relatively strong performance for US pork exports. However, beef exports were sharply lower than a year ago, hit by an impasse with China that has effectively locked US … Read More

During the week ended Tuesday, Sep. 23, managed money, a proxy for large commodity index funds, reduced their collective net long live cattle futures position while cattle hedgers increased their total net short position. The data came from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Wednesday as they began catching up with weekly reports on the holdings … Read More

In spite of market volatility, the strong market fundamentals and current status of the US beef industry remain unchanged, and can be distilled into a few short bullet points: The lowest beef cow inventory since the early 1960s. The lowest number of feeder calves in the production chain since the 1950s. Strongest consumer beef demand … Read More