Thursday’s USDA Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report was called very bearish to the futures market, especially for the fall and early 2019 delivery months.  Prices could open and lock down the daily limit of $2.00 per cwt. Jul futures could be pressured on the open Friday, but packer buying interest may lift it before the … Read More

Cash slaughter steer prices appear to be following the trend of last summer, and if the trend continues, they won’t bottom until the first week of September. The timing of the summer bottom would be earlier than the 2012-2016 average, which comes the last week of September. Since crossing below the 2017 price the second … Read More

Some of the growing demand for grass-fed beef could be met by grazing calves on a legume called birdsfoot trefoil. A study at Utah State University showed that birdsfoot trefoil pastures do not cause bloat when grazed since the tannins bind with the protein and don’t cause the stable foam in the rumen that causes … Read More

Fed and feeder cattle markets are feeling the support from lower corn prices, and any continued weakness in feed costs can be expected to provide even greater cattle market support, said Josh Maples, agricultural economist at Mississippi State University, in an article in “In The Cattle Markets.” Fed and feeder cattle cash markets are paying … Read More

Beef and hog markets may not get real excited about Friday’s USDA Cold Storage report.  Supplies of beef and pork in US freezers on May 31 were up from last year but were not out of line with the 2012-2016 averages. Total red meat supplies in cold storage were down 2% from the previous month … Read More

Beef production so far this year is up 3.6% on larger cattle slaughter and increased carcass weights, adding pressure to an already stressed beef market, said Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension livestock marketing specialist, in the Extension Service’s newsletter “Cow/Calf Corner.” Year-to-date cattle slaughter is up 3.8%, driven by increases in female slaughter, Peel … Read More

Average fed slaughter cattle prices continue to work lower, and the bottom may not come until late September or early October, according to USDA data. The data, collected and disseminated by the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, show weekly Southern Plains fed steer prices last week were $112.33 per cwt on a live basis.  This was … Read More