Large commodity investment firms, known as managed money, divested themselves of long live cattle positions during the week ended Tuesday, taking their collective net long position Tuesday to its lowest point in three months. At the same time, those who own the cattle at some point and theoretically could make or take delivery of a … Read More

Along with beef and pork, wholesale chicken prices are rising fast with the national composite weekly price now above the 2015-2019 average. Data from the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service and compiled by the Livestock Marketing Information Center showed a composite price last week of 101.95 cents a pound, the highest of the year and up … Read More

The pork cutout value continues to climb counter seasonally with last week reaching $113.88 per cwt, up $49.02, or 54.2%, since the start of the year, said the Livestock Marketing Information Center, in a letter to Extension agents called the Livestock Monitor. However, while the pork cutout is climbing rapidly at an unusual time of … Read More

US corn demand is up in the 2020/21 marketing year from 2019/20 with exports playing a leading role, said Ben Brown, of the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in a release on Illinois farmdocdaily. The USDA increased its 2020/21 US corn export forecast by 75 million bushels in the … Read More

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed Friday that large commodity investment firms, known as managed money, slashed their holdings of live cattle futures as hedgers covered their short positions during the week ended last Tuesday, April 20. The data came in the CFTC’s weekly Commitments of Traders report, which showed that managed money and hedgers, … Read More

Contrary to shoot-from-the-hip reactions Friday, March’s feedlot placement rate in the USDA’s monthly Cattle on Feed report Friday may be considered bearish to futures prices Monday. The placement rate fell below pre-report expectations by analysts in a survey by Urner Barry, but when placed against the 2015-2019 average, it was nothing special.  And the weight … Read More

Total red meat supplies in US freezers on March 31 were down about 6% from a month earlier and down about 17% from last year, the USDA said in its monthly Cold Storage report Thursday. Total frozen poultry supplies on March 31 were up slightly from a month earlier but were down about 17% from … Read More