The USDA-Foreign Agricultural Service in Beijing, China, last week forecasted lower Chinese beef imports in 2026 as China implements a tariff-rate quota framework safeguard measure that caped import volumes amid continued weak demand. The forecast came in a semi-annual livestock and products report that was posted on the USDA website. The FAS office also forecasted … Read More

After taking a smaller collective net long position in the previous week, large commodity index funds, or managed money, took on a larger position in the week ended Tuesday. At the same time, cash cattle traders reignited their own total net short live cattle position, according to the weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday from … Read More

On Feb. 3, Beijing released its annual “No. 1 Document,” outlining national strategies and measures related to agriculture and rural development, said the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service in Beijing, in a Global Agricultural Information Network release. While food security remains the top priority, the focus has shifted from pursuing quantity increases to striving for improvements … Read More

Canada’s feedlot population declined seasonally in February but remained below February 2025 and the 2020-24 average, according to data collected by CanFax and published by the Livestock Marketing Information Center. CanFax, a division of the Canadian Cattle Association, collects production data from its members in Alberta and Saskatchewan and shares the total on-feed number and … Read More

Over the past seven years, the interest expense faced by producers receiving a USDA Farm Service Agency loan increased 50% to 62%, and the total first-year payment increased 72% to -89%. That was because of increases in interest rates and loan amounts, said Sarah Atkinson of Farmdoc daily.  Interest-rate increases can be tied to increases … Read More

Large commodity index funds, known as managed money, pared their collective net long live cattle position in the week ended Tuesday as cash cattle traders covered some of their total net short position. The information came from the weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday issued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.   FUNDS DIVEST SOME … Read More

December closeouts from Kansas feedlots made an uncharacteristic downturn that put the result closer to last year and the 2029-2023 average. The data comes from the Kansas State University Extension service, which polls a select list of Kansas feedlots each month for production data.  The raw data is submitted to the Livestock Marketing Information Service … Read More