A lot can change between Thursday’s USDA Prospective Plantings report and the time when plantings are complete, but the report apparently caught many traders flat footed. The biggest surprises appeared to be that farmers planned to plant a record number of acres to soybeans and were earmarking fewer acres to corn and spring wheat than … Read More

The US inventory of all hogs and pigs on March 1 was down about 2% from a year ago and down about 3% from Dec. 1, said the USDA’s Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report Wednesday. All categories making up the total of all hogs and pigs in the US herd were down from a year … Read More

An early 2022 increase in fed cattle prices has softened, prompting some to ask about short-run price direction, said South Dakota State University Risk Management Specialist Matthew Diersen in a letter to Extension agents through the Livestock Marketing Information Center called In The Cattle Markets. The USDA’s boxed beef price fell sharply since peaking early … Read More

As the war in Ukraine rages on, concern is growing about world food supplies.  Worst-case scenarios have a sky-is-falling feel to them, but unlike the fairy tale, such scenarios could play out, market analysts said. Fears of shortages revolve around major agricultural exports of Ukraine and Russia and how their absences ripple across production and … Read More

Large commodity investment funds, known as managed money, increased their collective net long live cattle futures position in the week ended Tuesday, while hedgers boosted their total net short position. The data came from the weekly Commitments of Traders report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday.   MANAGED MONEY GETS LONGER   Managed … Read More

Total US first-quarter red meat and poultry production was down from the same quarter in 2021 and could decline again in 2023, according to data from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service and the Livestock Marketing Information Service. Historical data came from the NASS, while the projections came from the LMIC. First-quarter US commercial beef … Read More

Total red meat supplies in freezers on Feb. 28 were up about 5% from the previous month and up about 1% from last year, said the USDA’s monthly Cold Storage report Wednesday. Total pounds of beef in freezers were up about 1% from the previous month and up about 4% from last year. Frozen pork … Read More