Seasonal tightening of cull beef cow supplies are expected to have prices following closely to a normal increase going into 2019, but for now, prices are struggling to find a bottom, said Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, Derrell Peel in a letter to Extension agents. The cull cow market may have reached a … Read More

A new Farm Bill finally emerged from Congress this week, but in November, farmers expressed concern about the lack of new legislation. Minnesota Public Radio reporters Dan Gunderson and Elizabeth Dunbar quoted Minnesota Democratic Representative Collin Peterson saying Monday that the new bill looks a lot like the one that expired in September. Congress could … Read More

Blockchain technology, an open-source system of conducting business, has been touted as the hero of those seeking greater business flexibility and communication, but its complexity and need for a great many participants makes its adoption by the livestock industry seem far off. With an estimated 40% of US food wasted each year, it’s clear that … Read More

Large commodity investment funds, collectively called managed money, raised their net long position in live cattle futures during the week ended Tuesday as cattle owners extended their net short position. The data was released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Friday in its weekly Commitments of Traders report. The report said managed money’s new net … Read More

USDA data compiled by the Livestock Marketing Information Center shows that expected per capita US beef consumption this year will total 57.0 pounds, up from 56.9 last year but below the projected 2019 total of 57.3 pounds. In making its assessments, the LMIC used steer price data from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service and … Read More

Cow/calf producers were advised last week to look more closely at the futures market as a place to hedge calves profitably and not be frustrated by the market’s gyrations. If a cattle producer used feeder cattle futures exclusively as his or her only cattle price information that producer likely would be extremely confused, said Andrew … Read More

Cattle feeding margins rose $16.54 a head last week to $38.14 from $21.60 the previous week, a gain of 76.6%, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker, published by AgWeb. Last week’s margins for unhedged feeders was up even from those of a month earlier when it was $35.80 a head, the profit tracker said.  … Read More