Livestock loan demand grew in the third quarter, boosting agricultural lending activity at commercial banks, said Economists Nathan Kauffman and Ty Kreitman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve, in a release. Demand for operating loans was more subdued, however, and total non-real estate lending remained near its 10-year average, the economists said.  The average size … Read More

Large commodity index funds, known as managed money, took on a larger collective net long position in live cattle futures during the week ended last Tuesday, Oct. 19, as hedgers expanded their cumulative net short position. The data came from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday.   FUNDS GET LONGER … Read More

Total red meat supplies in US freezers on Sep. 30 were up about 4% from the previous month but down about 4% from last year, according to the USDA’s monthly Cold Storage report Friday. Total pounds of beef in freezers were up about 5% from the previous month but were down about 6% from last … Read More

Despite widespread precipitation from the central Rocky Mountains east to the northern and central Plains from Oct. 11 to 13, much of the contiguous 48 states remains locked in drought, the US Drought monitor showed Thursday. The weekly map showed near-normal moisture conditions in central Kansas eastward.  Areas to the north, south or west of … Read More

US economic activity grew at a modest to moderate rate in the period from Sep. 8 to Oct. 8, according to the majority of Federal Reserve districts and reported in the Beige Book Wednesday. Several districts noted, however, that the pace of growth slowed, constrained by supply chain disruptions, labor shortages and uncertainty around the … Read More

September industrial production fell 1.3% after moving down a revised 0.1% in August, said the Federal Reserve Bank Monday in its Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization report. August output previously was reported to have risen 0.4%.   SEPTEMBER OUTPUT DOWN   September manufacturing output decreased 0.7%, the Bank said.  Production of motor vehicles and parts … Read More

The USDA-Economic Research Service’s forecast for 2021 commercial beef production was raised fractionally from last month to 27.832 billion pounds on robust cow slaughter and heavier carcass weights. August’s beef imports totaled 332 million pounds, down 5.4% from a year ago.  The 2021 annual forecast for beef imports was raised to 3.187 billion pounds from … Read More