Large commodity investment funds, called managed money, extended their collective net long live cattle futures position during the week ended Tuesday to its largest position in four months, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. The data was released Friday in the CFTC’s weekly Commitments of Traders report.  It showed managed money’s new net long … Read More

With new-crop corn prices looking good for cattle feeders this summer, feeder cattle prices have responded well for cow/calf producers, according to the “Livestock Monitor,” a weekly letter to Extension staff from the Livestock Marketing Information Center. Data from the USDA-Agricultural Marketing Service show that prices for 700- to 800-pound medium and large No. 1 … Read More

With more cattle than the US, China’s beef production struggles to keep up, and increasing production was seen by one agricultural economist as challenging. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, said in the Extension Service’s newsletter “Cow/Calf Corner,” that China’s beef production has the greatest potential to expand in the major agricultural … Read More

The spread between wholesale choice and select beef prices is nearing a critical point where it will make a seasonal low, but predicting just when it will happen is a little like reading the entrails of an economist. The seasonal average pinch point for the 2012-16 weekly average choice/select spread happens in two weeks.  This … Read More

With weekly cattle and hog slaughter up close to 3% year to date, Monday’s monthly USDA Cold Storage report showed packers were able to keep beef from accumulating in the freezers, said ADMIS market analysts. However, the accomplishment came at a cost with lower choice beef and hog prices. Slowing foreign trade because of rising … Read More

While Friday’s USDA Cattle on Feed report was considered neutral to many cattle market analysts, the midyear USDA Cattle Inventory report could be considered bearish to feeder cattle prices. The number of cattle in the herd grew, forcing the rate of female slaughter up and increasing the number of feeder cattle available for placement into … Read More

An agricultural economist at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls told Extension Agents this week that lean hog and live cattle futures prices could rebound, despite China’s import tariffs. Brenda Boetel, said in this week’s “In The Cattle Markets” from the Livestock Marketing Information Center that both markets had been driven lower than was reasonable to … Read More