As US President Donald Trump sets the wheels in motion to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, the largest cattle-producer organizations in the US, Canada and Mexico sent letters to the presidents of all three countries expressing their concerns. They said the beef business would have little to gain from new NAFTA negotiations. “Recent … Read More

This month’s USDA Cold Storage report likely will be considered neutral by livestock futures traders since beef and pork supplies were in line with expectations. Total red meat supplies in US freezers on April 30 were up 4% from a month earlier but were down 4% from a year earlier. Total pounds of beef on … Read More

Large investment funds, called managed money, increased their net long live cattle futures position during the week ended Tuesday as commercial traders extended their net short position, said the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The CFTC revealed the numbers in its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday and said managed money had a net long cattle … Read More

One of the only legs left for the cattle market to stand on appears to be softening.  The other one may not have the strength to provide the necessary lift to reverse what appears to be a trend. First, it was the futures market that gave the first hints that cattle prices lacked the backbone … Read More

US agricultural exports could be running into trouble as moves by international shipping companies to consolidate and cut costs threatens access to world markets. The Wall Street Journal reports that a strong greenback is making it tougher for US farmers to compete in export markets.  No news there, but the fact is being compounded by … Read More

In what is perhaps a boost for cattle producers, a well-known hog market economist is predicting a continued rise in hog prices for at least the next few weeks, albeit at a slower pace. Ron Plain, agricultural economist at the University of Missouri, said in an article for the National Hog Farmer the pace of … Read More

The good news is there will be ample supplies of corn and hay for cattle producers, the bad news is these stocks likely will cost a little more this year. USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service data show expectations of a national average corn yield of 168.5 bushels per acre, down 6.8, or 3.88%, from last … Read More