Cattle feeders probably would be OK with fed cattle prices where they are if corn prices would soften somewhat, said Andrew Griffith, University of Tennessee livestock economist, in a newsletter called Tennessee Market Highlights. Fed cattle prices have been unusually steady lately, trading in a narrow range for about five weeks, disappointing cattle feeders who … Read More

Earlier this year, the USDA’s Risk Management Agency changed its Livestock Risk Protection insurance allowing covered producers to collect indemnity payments if they sell insured cattle within the last 60 days of coverage, and it pays to know the implications of the change. The analysis was covered by Matthew Diersen, risk and business management specialist … Read More

Kansas feedlots sold fewer slaughter-ready cattle to beef packers in April than they did in March, following 2020’s, COVID-related drop, according to data collected by the Kansas State University Extension Service. The data is collected from select, representative feedlots around the state and sent to the Livestock Marketing Information Center in Denver to be extrapolated … Read More

Managed money, a term for large commodity investment firms, lowered their total net long live cattle futures position during the week ended Tuesday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Friday in its weekly Commitments of Traders report. Cattle hedgers, called commercial traders, are those who own, or will own, the cattle at some point in … Read More

The Russians were at it again over the weekend, although not necessarily the Russian government. The world’s largest meat processing company JBS SA got hit with ransomware, affecting meat processing at many of its US and Australian plants.  But experts and non-experts are saying the incident exposed vulnerabilities in computerized operations of many industries, and … Read More

The US economy expanded at a moderate pace from early April to late May, a somewhat faster rate than the prior reporting period, according to the Federal Reserve Bank’s Beige Book Wednesday. Several districts cited the positive effects on the economy of increased vaccination rates and relaxed social distancing measures, the bank said.  However, they … Read More

This week’s National Agricultural Statistics Service Crop Progress report likely was seen as bearish, since crop conditions are good, and progress was ahead of last year and the five-year average. The report showed that 95% of the nation’s corn crop had been planted as of Sunday, compared with last year’s 92% and the 2016-2020 average … Read More