The big news in the USDA’s Jan. 1 cattle inventory report Wednesday was the decline of 608,000 head of available feeder cattle outside of feedlots. The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service reported a total feeder cattle supply of 26.105 million head on Jan. 1, down 2.28% from 26.713 million a year earlier. NASS also reported … Read More

US commercial beef production in November declined slightly from October, but remained above last year and the previous five-year average, said USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service data. Total beef production for 2017 through November also was up from a year earlier and the 2011-2015 average.  This competes with increased pork production through the same period.  … Read More

As US President Donald Trump’s negotiators try to push through a better North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, US exports should be getting a boost from a weaker US dollar. The Mar contract for the ICE US dollar index, an index of the greenback’s worth calculated against a market basket of other … Read More

Large commodity investment funds, called managed money, broke their 10-week trend of being net sellers of live cattle futures and expanded their net long position during the week ended Tuesday. At the same time, commercial traders, mostly producers and, thus, hedgers, extended their net short position, breaking a two-week string of short covering. The Commodity … Read More

Per capita disappearance of beef, pork and chicken likely will increase this year as production of all three puts more meat in front of consumers, said the USDA’s Economic Research Service in its Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook report for January. For 2018, the per capita quantity available to consumers was projected to be the … Read More

Total red meat supplies in cold storage essentially were neutral to cattle prices since supplies were up from a month earlier but down from a year earlier. However, the report may be seen as somewhat bearish for hog prices as total stocks were down from Nov. 30 but up from a year earlier. Total US … Read More

Drought conditions in the US have expanded rapidly in recent weeks, calling into question this year’s agricultural production capabilities. The latest national Drought Monitor shows that 33% of the country is in some form of drought.  Oklahoma State University agricultural economist Derrell Peel said in the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service “Cow/Calf Corner” that this is … Read More