Florida agriculture officials have completed a survey of cattle ranches hit by Hurricane Irma last month and the damages add up to as much as $237.476 million. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said beef cattle provide sales of $549.1 million and the sector is one of the state’s most important land uses. … Read More

US beef exports posted another strong month in August, remaining well above last year’s pace, according to data from the USDA’s Economic Research Service and the Foreign Agricultural Service and compiled by the US Meat Export Federation. August pork exports rose from the previous month but lagged slightly when compared with last year, the USMEF … Read More

Kansas feedlots appear to be doing a better job of staying current with their sales to packing plants, or marketings, than they did last year. A monthly Extension Service survey of select, representative feedlots in Kansas during August shows that they were selling cattle for slaughter at consistently lighter weights than last year or the … Read More

Large commodity funds, or managed money, nudged their collective net long live cattle futures position higher for the fourth straight week in the week ended Tuesday while commercial traders boosted their net short position for the third week. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in its weekly Commitments of Traders report that managed money’s new … Read More

China is making reforms to its corn production and demand programs that could squeeze the availability of corn in just a few years, said the USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service in a “Gain Report” near the end of September. “Over the summer, there have been several announcements that could impact the grain sector, particularly for corn,” … Read More

Assuming more fall rainfall comes to the Southern Plains, wheat pasture again will be a key source of protein and some energy for many area cow herds, said Oklahoma State University Emeritus Extension Animal Scientist, in the university’s Cow/Calf Corner.  But the management needs will go up. If that rainfall occurs, wheat grazing usually will … Read More

The weekly average difference between wholesale prices for choice and select beef is widening and has a habit of widening even more until mid-December. That difference, called the choice/select spread, had a 2011-2015 average weekly bottom date in the first week of August at $4.93 per cwt.  Last year, the bottom came later, in the … Read More