Farmer sentiment jumped again in November, with the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer climbing 30 points to a reading of 145, marking the highest level since May 2021, said Purdue Agricultural Economist James Mintert, in a release. Both of the barometer’s sub-indices increased in November. The Future Expectations Index saw the largest jump, rising … Read More

Now that the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has suspended temporarily imports of Mexican cattle into the US, there are many questions about the implications the closure might have on US cattle markets. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension livestock marketing specialist, wrote a study of those implications in a letter called Cow-Calf … Read More

Wet weather has been a welcome relief for many areas of the country over the last few weeks, but the drought isn’t over, wrote Will Secor, Extension livestock economist at the University of Georgia, in a letter for the Livestock Marketing Information Center. “In particular, rains in late October and early November alleviated drought or … Read More

The 2024 Livestock Marketing Information Center’s Retail All Fresh Beef Demand Index may be up if fourth-quarter statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the USDA’s Economic Research Service follow the trend of the first three. The retail pork demand annual index showed more variation through the first three quarters of this year, yielding … Read More

Total red meat supplies in freezers on Oct. 31 were down about 2% from the previous month and down about 3% from last year, said the USDA’s monthly Cold Storage report. Total frozen poultry supplies on Oct. 31 were down about 7% from the previous month and down about 6% from a year ago.   … Read More

Feeder cattle supplies just got a little tighter. The US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service over the weekend clamped import restrictions on cattle and bison from Mexico after a case of New World Screwworm was confirmed in a cow in Chiapas state, which is near the Guatemalan border. The US hasn’t had a reported … Read More

Large commodity index funds, otherwise known as managed money, increased their collective net long live cattle futures position in the week ended Tuesday, their ninth straight week of increases. In its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission also said hedgers trimmed their total net short live cattle position.   FUNDS … Read More