USDA and others pushed this week for continued expansion of electronic ear tags in US cattle. Speakers at the National Institute for Animal Agriculture’s Strategy Forum on Livestock Traceability in Kansas City, Tuesday and Wednesday said there was momentum within the cattle industry for more electronic tagging, but more was needed.   COST, LIABILITY CONCERN … Read More

Total US red meat supplies in cold storage on Aug. 31 were up 4% from a month earlier and up 4% from last year, said the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service in its monthly Cold Storage report released Monday. Total pounds of beef in US freezers were up 4% from a month earlier and up … Read More

The US’ trade war with China and other countries is raising the cost of living and pressuring already weak wholesale hide and offal prices. Just how far US cattle hide prices decline from here is anyone’s guess, but at some point, the by-product of cattle slaughter likely will find a market and probably build in … Read More

Large commodity investment funds, called managed money, reversed direction in the week ended Tuesday, increasing their collective net long live cattle futures position to its highest level in nearly six months, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday. The CFTC said managed money’s new net long position Tuesday came … Read More

The US beef cattle sector now is will into the cyclical adjustment phase, transitioning from aggressive herd expansion to very modest growth, said the Livestock Marketing Information Center in a post to county Extension Agents this week. A strong domestic economy and robust exports have buffered beef and cattle prices against near record-large US beef … Read More

The USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service said in a report that African Swine Fever in China, coupled with its wide distribution, virulence and ease of transmission could have a significant effect on China’s swine population and the availability of domestically produced pork. Chinese veterinary officials still are struggling to determine how the disease could pop up … Read More

The average October basis for fed cattle may be even weaker than last year after futures prices jumped higher on Friday and appear to be holding relatively flat through Tuesday. Basis is calculated by subtracting the futures delivery month price from the cash price.  The average live cattle futures price in July, for instance, was … Read More