The difference between reported wholesale choice and select beef prices, called the choice/select spread, is widening and is even approaching last year’s COVID-related high, according to data from the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service and compiled by the Livestock Marketing Information Center. Strong demand for beef, especially choice product, along with controlled output from the beef … Read More

Canada’s cattle on feed situation began a seasonal decline in April that generally continues through August, according to data from CanFax that was processed and published by the Livestock Marketing Information Center. CanFax, a private market advisory group, surveys feedlots in Alberta and Saskatchewan to obtain the data.  Most of the information is shared only … Read More

Total red meat supplies in US freezers on April 30 were down bout 3% from the previous month and down 17% from last year, according to the monthly Cold Storage report. That report, from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, also said total frozen poultry supplies on that date were down slightly from the March … Read More

For the second straight week, large commodity investment firms, known as managed money, took a collectively larger net long live cattle futures position in the week ended Tuesday, according to data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday. Also for the second straight week, hedgers, known as … Read More

In the fourth quarter of 2020 (when beef prices were strengthening) nearly 25% of US adults said they were worse off financially than a year earlier, reflecting the economic fallout and distress from the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve Bank said in a release. The report found a larger share of adults were worse … Read More

Drought conditions remain historically bad for this time of year, and USDA data confirms that the situation is critical for the beef cattle industry, said Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist in a letter to Extension agents called Cow/Calf Corner. USDA-reported pasture and range conditions from May through October and the initial reports this … Read More

Some said it couldn’t be done — five major US cattlemen’s association officials meeting together, in one place, to talk about ways to improve cattle price discovery – but it did. But will anything change?  Will it get any easier to figure out just what cattle are worth?  Will fewer fed cattle be sold to … Read More