Abnormal dryness and short-term moderate to severe drought continued to expand across the lower to middle Mississippi Valley, Ohio Valley, Central Appalachians, Northeast and Southeast, said the National Weather Service in its weekly Drought Monitor. However, heavy precipitation (two inches or more) resulted in a one-category improvement to central and eastern portions of Kentucky and … Read More

The USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service in Brasilia, Brazil, said in an annual report Wednesday that Brazil, the second largest beef producing country and the largest beef exporting country in the world, was expected to decrease slaughter in 2026. By then, rebuilding the cattle herd will be under way, having begun in the second half of … Read More

Feedlot marketings of fed steers from the average Kansas feed yard jumped in July to their largest point of the year, according to data collected by the Kansas State University Extension service. KSU Extension surveys a select group of feedlots around the state for a variety of data points about their operations and cattle performance.  … Read More

July US pork exports were slightly less than last year but accounted for a larger share of production, according to data released by the USDA and compiled by the US Meat Export Federation. The USMEF added in a release that market access obstacles continued to weigh heavily on US beef exports, with the vast majority … Read More

During the week ended Tuesday, large commodity index firms, known as managed money, increased their collective net long live cattle position. In releasing the data in Friday’s Commitments of Traders report, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission also said cattle hedgers boosted their total net short live cattle position.   FUNDS GET LONGER LIVE CATTLE   … Read More

President Trump’s sweeping new tariffs likely will have no more effect on US inflation after another two or three quarters, said St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President Alberto Musalem. Musalem made his remarks in a speech about the US economy and monetary policy at a Peterson Institute for International Economics event in Washington, DC, recently.  … Read More

Most of the 12 Federal Reserve districts reported little or no change in economic activity since the prior Beige Book period. The Federal Reserve Bank made the report in the Beige Book, fan eight-times-a-year report on economic activity.   OVERALL ECONOMIC ACTIVITY   The four districts that differed reported modest growth, the Beige Book said. … Read More