It’s never a bad time to plan for or to look for cost-effective ways to manage cattle-production risks, said Matthew Diersen, risk and business management specialist at the Ness School of Management and Economics at South Dakota State University, in a message to Extension agents. In this week’s In The Cattle Markets from the Livestock … Read More

In general, pasture and range conditions around the US appear to be better than normal and certainly better than last year, but for some this may not be such a good thing. Anecdotal reports say continuous rains have meant that nutrients have been leeched out of the grass or alfalfa, first cuttings have not been … Read More

After a general decline in fed cattle prices since peaking in late March, it’d be natural to think cattle feeders would be looking for a bottom, but the odds are it won’t be for another two or three months. It’s possible, of course, that the annual price bottom could materialize soon.  After all, last year, … Read More

The USDA’s monthly Cold Storage report showed that total US frozen red meat supplies on May 31 were down 2% from a month earlier and down 6% from last year. The news on beef stocks might be especially good for bullishly construed cattle traders as total pounds of beef on ice were down 6% from … Read More

Pork export data show that export demand is down, especially to key countries, but domestic demand appears to be just fine. A story for the National Hog Farmer by Kent Bang of Campeer Financial, said, “Pork prices at retail in the latest reports indicate that pork prices were higher year-over-year led by bacon prices at … Read More

Chicago corn futures declined Wednesday amid thoughts that planting woes this year were overblown, but they’re still up significantly from two months ago, which could help to keep calves on grass longer, wrote a university Extension economist for the Livestock Marketing Information Center. Stated another way, lush pasture growth this year from all the rain … Read More

Some cattle feeders currently are able to take advantage of the current difference between cash prices for fed cattle and the Jun or Aug futures price, or the basis.  Others are not.  It all depends on how well hedged they are. University of Tennessee Agricultural economist Andrew Griffith said it well in his weekly letter … Read More