Managed money, or large commodity investment funds, reversed a two-week slide in their net long live cattle futures position during the week ended Tuesday, taking their new long position to 93,616 contracts. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission Friday announced the new managed money position Friday in its weekly Commitments of Traders report.  Managed money’s new … Read More

Dry weather over large parts of the US are beginning to worry grain traders and end users of corn and soybeans.  Most notable for cattle producers is the effect a dry growing season could have on feed prices. The USDA’s World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates report currently projects US corn production at 15.148 billion … Read More

Low inventories of pork bellies this year have sparked sharp increases in prices as restaurants around the country pile on the bacon for added flavor. Frozen belly stocks are very seasonal and tend to begin the year rather large then dwindle into the summer months, said the Livestock Marketing Information Center’s Livestock Monitor.  However, this … Read More

Prices for lighter-weight feeder cattle continue to move higher while those of heavier calves move sideways, as buyers seek younger cattle to put on pasture. Spring-like temperatures have pastures showing a bit of green, and the opportunity to have calves growing on the new grass is hard for stockers to pass up. For the uninitiated, … Read More

Weekly choice wholesale beef prices are at a decision point after trending lower since Jan. 1 as supply and lackluster domestic demand combine. The decision point comes as the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s boxed beef cutout value often turns higher this week.  At least it did last year along with the 2011-2015 average. Last year, … Read More

Managed money, or large commodity funds, trimmed their net long live cattle futures positions during the week ended Tuesday for the third straight week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Friday. During the same week, the CFTC’s weekly Commitments of Traders report revealed that swap dealers continued to expand their net long cattle position for … Read More

The USDA, at its annual Outlook Forum Thursday, kicked off the annual guessing game about the number of acres that would be planted to various crops this year, and feed grains drew the short straw. Such a scenario could raise feed prices for cattle, hog and poultry producers in the months ahead – that is, … Read More