For the second straight week, managed money, a moniker for large commodity index firms, divested themselves of their net long live cattle futures positions. In reporting the activity of major trader classifications in its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said cattle owners, or commercial traders, covered many of their … Read More

February US beef exports were 227 million pounds, 7% lower year over year, the USDA said in its monthly Livestock Dairy and Poultry Outlook report Wednesday. Monthly exports to China, Mexico, Taiwan and Japan were lower year over year, the USDA said.  Exports to Canada were up 3 million pounds from last year, nearly 17%, … Read More

Kansas City Federal Reserve President Jeffry Schmid told the Secured Finance Network’s Independent Finance Roundtable in Kansas City recently that he was concerned about the possibility of inflation in the US. “The recent tariff announcements have elevated economic uncertainty and have coincided with a decline in consumer sentiment and increases in near-term inflation expectations,” Schmid … Read More

Feedlot populations on April 1 in Alberta and Saskatchewan continued their seasonal monthly decline although the pace of the decline is greater than the 2019-2023 average and last year. CanFax, a part of the Canada Cattlemen Association, surveys member feedlots monthly in the two provinces for a variety of data points about their operations.  The … Read More

Large commodity index funds, or managed money, negated part of their net long live cattle futures position in the week ended Tuesday as cattle owners covered a portion of their total net short position. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday provided the details.   FUNDS ADD SHORT POSITIONS   Tuesday, … Read More

For 2025, the USDA’s monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report lowered its estimate of total red meat and poultry production. The estimate for 2025 broiler production was raised.   BEEF PRODUCTION ESTIMATE RAISED   Beef production for the year was raised 15 million pounds, or 0.06%, to 26.700 billion pounds from 26.685 billion … Read More

Last week’s attention to President Donald Trump’s new tariffs and the resulting drops in stocks, commodities and even gold, prompted Colorado State University Agricultural Economist Stephen Koontz to focus on the USDA’s prospective plantings report. In an article for the Livestock Marketing Information Center’s newsletter In The Cattle Markets, Koontz said the report had implications … Read More