Managed money, a proxy for large commodity investment firms, increased their collective net short live cattle positions in the week ended Tuesday after four straight weeks of cutting their net long position. The data comes from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report on Friday. As of Tuesday, managed money was net … Read More

Agriculture market analysts said grain and soybean futures were bulled by Thursday’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, but they could have added live cattle to the list as well since all contracts closed higher. The USDA report lowered its forecast for 2019 total red meat and poultry production to 104.603 billion pounds from … Read More

Kansas feedlot closeouts in July declined from what may be the second-largest such monthly move of the year in June and followed the seasonal trend, although at a higher level. The information came from monthly survey of selected Kansas feedlots by the Kansas State University Extension Service.  The data then was compiled by the Livestock … Read More

One of the most challenging aspects to understand around futures markets is the mechanics of margin and/or margin calls.  It’s also something that has hit many hedgers in the pocketbook, but it doesn’t have to catch them off guard. This is an edited version of an article by private market advisor Nevil Speer that he … Read More

Oklahoma employment has grown much more slowly than in the rest of the nation since 2013, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City said in a report. The lag largely has been driven by difficulties in the oil and gas sector, but technological changes in other sectors also took a toll on jobs, such as … Read More

US red meat exports in July were strong, despite various trade issues, with pork shipments record large, said the US Meat Export Federation after compiling data from the USDA. July pork exports surged to 233,242 tonnes, up 56,829, or 32.2%, from 176,413 last year and topping the previous record from April 2018, the USMEF said. … Read More

USDA analysts have sliced another $4.5 billion from their previous forecast of 2019 US agricultural exports from their previous forecast in May. Illinois Farm Policy News reported that Gary Crawford explained in a segment for USDA Radio on Aug. 29 that in May, USDA analysts were forecasting the 2019 fiscal year’s US ag exports to … Read More