Going from not being a player to the largest beef importer in the last two decades, China’s importance to world beef trade has exploded, said Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension livestock marketing specialist, in a letter called Cow-Calf Corner. Starting about 2013, rising beef consumption in China began to exceed domestic beef production leading … Read More

For the fourth straight week, managed money, a proxy for large commodity index funds, trimmed their collective net long live cattle futures positions in the week ended Tuesday. At the same time, cash cattle traders, called commercial traders, cut their total net short live cattle futures position, according to data from Friday’s Commitments of Traders … Read More

Now that New World Screwworm has entered the US, what now?  The Illinois Farm Policy News released a summary of various news agency reports that spelled it out pretty well This is a version of that story that was edited for style and space.   FIRST DETECTION   Meatingplace’s Chris Moore reported “USDA confirmed the … Read More

Economic activity increased at a slight to moderate pace for 10 of the 12 Federal Reserve districts, while one district reported a slight decline and one reported no change, said the Bank’s Beige Book. The Beige Book is released eight times a year and summarizes economic activity and changes from the previous report.  The latest … Read More

Wholesale prices for boxed cow beef keep rising, pushing live cow prices and allowing cow/calf producers a way out of their drought-stressed pasture situation. Well, it’s not a good way out, but at least it offers better compensation for selling the income-generators of their operation than if prices were lower.   CUTOUT $60 PER CWT … Read More

Large commodity index funds, also known as managed money, further trimmed their collective net long live cattle futures position during the week ended last Tuesday, May 26, as cash cattle traders cut their total net short position. That was according to data supplied by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in its weekly Commitments of Traders … Read More

During the week ended Tuesday, a highly variable weather pattern brought wide temperature swings to much of the contiguous US, the National Weather Service said in its weekly Drought Monitor Thursday.   COLD AIR MASS PUSHES EAST   An unusually cold airmass that settled over the Plains at the start of the data-gathering week pushed … Read More