The latest Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer farmer sentiment index declined five points to a reading of 112 in September, said Purdue Agricultural Economist James Mintert, it a release. The Ag Economy Barometer is calculated each month from 400 US agricultural producers’ responses to a telephone survey, the release said.  This month’s survey was … Read More

In its Grain Stocks report Friday, the USDA said it had reviewed 2021-22 crop year data and made some revisions to 2021 corn and soybean production estimates, which affected ending stocks data. In the report, US corn production for 2021 was revised down 41.4 million bushels, and US soybean production was revised up 30.2 million … Read More

Large commodity investment funds, known as managed money, decreased their collective net long live cattle futures position in the week ended Tuesday, while hedgers did the same with their total net short position. That was according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report for trader groups’ positions as of the preceding … Read More

Although there may be increases from quarter to quarter, the US hog herd keeps declining slowly when compared with last year, according to the USDA Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report Thursday.   ALL HOGS DOWN FROM 2021   The US inventory of all hogs and pigs on Sep. 1 was 73.800 million head, up 1.276 … Read More

Fourth-quarter cattle slaughter and beef production were projected to decrease year over year, but higher-than-expected beef production in the first three quarters of the year likely mean annual beef production will be steady or fractionally higher, said Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, in a letter to Extension agents called Cow-Calf Corner. … Read More

The USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service reported this month that poultry production in China next year was expected to remain stable at 14.3 million tonnes. Chicken consumption in China has increased since the 2020 outbreak of African Swine Fever in its hog population that necessitated the culling of millions of hogs to control the disease.  China … Read More

Kansas feedlot sales to beef packers, or closeouts, averaged 4,113 head in July, falling below last year and the 2016-2020 average, according to a survey by the Kansas State University Extension service. The monthly survey collects data from select feedlots and sends the results to the Livestock Marketing Information Center in Denver for compilation and … Read More