The CME Group is reviewing the live cattle futures contract traded at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in an effort to keep it relevant to the cash market. As part of a panel addressing the live cattle contract’s applicability to the cash fed cattle market, CME Group Executive Director of Ag Markets Fred Seamon spoke Friday … Read More

For 2024, the US Department of Agriculture’s estimate for red meat and poultry production was raised from last month. The USDA’s monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report Thursday said the beef production estimate was raised because of heavier weights and higher slaughter. The pork production forecast was raised on higher hog slaughter more … Read More

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza among cattle has been given a new name: Bovine Influenza A Virus. It has been confirmed in dairy farms in Texas, Kansas, Michigan, Idaho, New Mexico, Ohio and North Carolina.  Many states have begun or have stepped up their restrictions on the movement of cattle. The USDA has formulated a Q&A … Read More

Through last week, anyway, shoppers continued to pay up for beef, according to a weekly National Cattlemen’s Beef Association “Wholesale Price Update.” The report is in contrast to a Thomson Reuters article this week saying shoppers in poorer neighborhoods were pulling back from the meat counter. The published charts are prepared using data from the … Read More

US pork exports in February continued to shine, increasing in volume and value, while higher beef export value belied the decline in volume, according to data from the USDA that was compiled by the US Meat Export Federation in Denver.   PORK EXPORTS CONTINUE STRONG   February pork exports increased 31,201 tonnes, or 14.2%, from … Read More

Large commodity index funds, known as managed money, reduced their net long live cattle futures positions in the week ended Tuesday as hedgers cut their net short position. The information was reported by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Friday in its weekly Commitments of Traders report.   MANAGED MONEY CUTS LONG POSITION   Tuesday, managed … Read More

Like many feedlots around the country, the average Kansas feed yard sales to packers, or closeouts, in February, dropped, according to data collected by the Kansas State University Extension service and compiled and published by the Livestock Marketing Information Center in Denver. The data is taken from select, representative feedlots around the state and them … Read More