5-15-20 – Fed cattle slaughter picked up the last two weeks, but it remains below what feedlots need to keep up with the number of head coming due for their date with the packer, trade sources said. It likely will take many weeks for slaughter rates to catch up with the growing backlog of fed … Read More

Kansas feedlot sales of fed cattle to packing plants rose in March, following, and remaining above, the 2014-2018 average trend. The data comes from a monthly survey of selected, representative feedlots by the Kansas State University Extension Service.  This data is then extrapolated to represent the state as a whole, compiled and distributed by the … Read More

The USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report Tuesday reduced its estimate of 2020 total red meat and poultry production from last month as the sector adjusts to COVID-19 and economic uncertainty. However, the World Agricultural Outlook Board’s report said total US red meat and poultry production for 2021 was projected to be greater … Read More

Prompted by media coverage of meat shortages, it seems many consumers are buying extra when they can, generating more meat sales at higher prices for the retail grocer, according to a report by Anne-Marie Roerink, president of 210 Analytics LLC. For the week ended May 3, meat department income was up 51.3% from the same … Read More

Large commodity investment firms, called managed money, trimmed their collective net long live cattle futures position in the week ended Tuesday but did not cross the line into being net short. The data came from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday. Managed money’s new net long live cattle position Tuesday … Read More

Underpinned by record production, US pork exports completed a tremendous first quarter with new March records for volume and value, according to data released by the USDA and compiled by the US Meat Export Federation. Beef exports also trended higher year-over-year in March, establishing a record first quarter pace, the USMEF said in a release. … Read More

Disparities between wholesale beef and fed cattle prices have led to calls for greater protectionist policies, but they may not help cattle producers, said a university economist Monday. University of Wisconsin Economist Brenda Boetel, writing a letter to Extension Agents for the Livestock Marketing Information Center in Denver called In The Cattle Markets, said limiting … Read More