Declining beef and pork production may offset increased broiler production and lead to a decrease in total 2022 meat output, said Oklahoma State University Livestock Marketing Specialist Derrell Peel, in a letter to Extension agents called Cow-Calf Corner. The latest forecasts from the Livestock Marketing Information Center suggested red meat and poultry production will total … Read More

The monthly Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer dipped to a reading of 113 in March, down 12 points from February and 36% lower than March 2021, marking the weakest farmer sentiment reading since May 2020, in the early days of the pandemic, said Purdue University Agricultural Economist James Mintert, in a release. The Ag … Read More

For livestock producers not comfortable with the futures market, the USDA has Livestock Risk Protection insurance, meant to ensure a bottom-line price for a specified period of time. LRP-feeder cattle, for instance, is a federally backed product that provides protection against prices falling below the target level of the policy at the expiration date. Similar … Read More

Managed money, a proxy for large commodity investment funds, increased their collective net long position in live cattle futures as hedgers boosted their total net short position. The information came from the weekly Commitments of Traders report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.   MANAGED MONEY GETS LONGER CATTLE   As of Tuesday, managed money … Read More

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