Commodity prices declines, supply chain disruptions, and coronavirus concerns pressured producer attitudes in the monthly Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer to a three-year low in April, said a Purdue University release. The barometer recorded a reading of 96, marking the first time it has fallen below 100 since October 2016 and was 72 points … Read More

The percentage of choice and prime beef carcasses coming out of packing plants is way above average even though the number of cattle being slaughtered and processed is way down, USDA data showed. The USDA said that 10.2% of the cattle slaughtered in April yielded a prime-grade carcass, which was higher than the entire first … Read More

Large commodity index funds, called managed money by traders, increased their marginal collective net long live cattle futures position in the week ended Tuesday, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday showed that managed money had a net long cattle position of 4,464 contracts, up 2,658, or … Read More

While COVID-19 commands the news space, and cattle back up all the way to the cow/calf producer, Agricultural Economist Elliot Dennis urged producers to figure if the cost of adding weight to feeder cattle was worth it. In a letter to Extension agents from the Livestock Marketing Information Center called In The Cattle Markets, Elliot … Read More

Like a huge backup from a wreck on the interstate that takes hours to clear up and more hours to return to a normal traffic flow, the US cattle and meat industries are backing up, and it may take years to clear. And even though President Trump ordered meat packing plants to reopen, designating them … Read More

In the wake of COVID-19’s devastation to the cattle industry, some are calling for greater market oversight, but a well-known agricultural economist says to be careful what you wish for. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University agricultural economist, said in a letter to Extension Agents called Cow/Calf Corner that COVID-19 had resulted in price changes and … Read More

It looks like Canada’s feedlots are beginning their seasonal decline in cattle populations a month early, forgoing a seasonal bump in April 1 inventories. The report of the number of cattle on feed in Canada is put out by the private market advisory firm CanFax, and the data for the total number on feed along … Read More