The USDA’s Economic Research Service predicted in its monthly Situation and Outlook Report that total US corn use this year would be unchanged from last year as 50 million bushels shifts from exports to ethanol production. With total supply and use steady, projected ending stocks remained unchanged at the lowest level since the 2015/16 marketing … Read More

If feedlot managers ever wonder why packer buyers won’t pay more for a pen of cattle that are likely to yield a better-than-average percentage of prime-grading carcasses, it’s because the packer has to sell the whole carcass. The difference between prime beef and other grades is the amount of intermuscular fat, called marbling.  This fat … Read More

A prominent university agricultural economist is predicting expanded US beef exports and leaner beef imports this year, making for stronger fed cattle markets at home. Oklahoma State University Agricultural Economist Derrell Peel said in a letter to Extension Agents called Cow/Calf Corner that 2020 beef exports could increase with better prospects in China.  US beef … Read More

The new 2020 forecast for total red meat and poultry production was raised from last month on a larger forecast for beef, pork and broiler production, Tuesday’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report said. Livestock and poultry trade estimates for 2019 were adjusted to reflect December trade data.   BEEF PRODUCTION ESTIMATE MOVES HIGHER … Read More

Kansas feedlots finished 2019 by selling more fed cattle to packers in December than they did in November, but the pace of sales remained below December 2018 and the 2013-2017 average. The data came from a survey of selected feedlots around the state by the Kansas State University Extension Service.  This data then was extrapolated … Read More

Large commodity investment firms, known as managed money, liquidated live cattle futures contracts aggressively during the week ended Tuesday, the second straight week of selling after hitting a one-month high Jan. 21. The data came from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday.  The report went on to show … Read More

US pork exports last year posted new volume and value records, reaching nearly $7 billion, while beef exports came in below 2018’s record levels, according to data released by the USDA and compiled by the US Meat Export Federation.   PORK EXPORTS SOAR   December pork and pork variety meat exports soared to 282,145 tonnes, … Read More