Large commodity index funds cut their collective net long live cattle futures position in half in the week ended Tuesday as hedgers covered a large portion of their total net short position, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday.   FUNDS LIQUIDATE LONG CATTLE POSITIONS   The … Read More

Exactly how continuing drought, reduced forage production and high feed prices will affect cattle and beef markets in the coming months remains uncertain.  Nevertheless, the second half of 2022 is shaping up to look significantly different than the first half of the year, said Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist Derrell Peel. Writing in … Read More

The number of slaughter-ready cattle the “average” feedlot sold to packers in May continued to rise after making an earlier-than-normal seasonal low in March, Kansas State Extension survey data showed. The data is gathered by the KSU Extension service from selected-representative feedlots across Kansas.  It is then sent to the Livestock Marketing Information Center in … Read More

The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer continued to slide in June, down two points to a reading of 97, said Purdue University Agricultural Economist James Mintert in a release. The Ag Economy Barometer is calculated each month from 400 US agricultural producers’ responses to a telephone survey.  This month’s survey was conducted from June … Read More

Large traders of live cattle futures slashed their positions in live cattle futures in the week ended last Tuesday, June 28, according to Friday’s weekly Commitments of Traders report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.   FUNDS LIQUIDATE CATTLE POSITIONS   Large commodity investment firms, known as managed money had a collective net long live … Read More

The US inventory of all hogs and pigs on June 1 was 72.5 million head, said the USDA’s Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report this week.  This was down about 1% from a year ago and down slightly from March 1. The breeding herd, at 6.17 million head, was down about 1% from last year but … Read More

Although Oklahoma’s agricultural economy has remained solid, expectations for farm income and credit conditions have softened more than in other states, particularly in wheat-and cattle-producing areas affected by extreme drought, said Cortney Cowley, economist at the Oklahoma City branch of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, in a study Wednesday. Oklahoma received more rain in … Read More