The eating quality of US grain-fed beef has been improving over the last 10 years partly because lower-quality beef has sold at a widening discount to average quality, said a beef cattle specialist with the Certified Angus Beef brand in a recent white paper. Paul Dykstra recently published the white paper, “Why quality grades are … Read More

Retail meat and poultry prices in November declined with pork prices registering their largest month-to-month decline of the year, according to data from the USDA’s Economic Research Service. Data showed retail pork prices dropping $0.12 a pound, or 3.15%, to $3.63 a pound from $3.74 in October.  (Prices have been rounded.)  This was the largest … Read More

The number of cattle in feedlots of 1,000 or more in the primary feeding provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan remain below last year and the previous five-year average. According to the Livestock Marketing Information Center reporting CanFax data, which is delayed to the public on its official web site, the number of cattle populating the … Read More

Commodity funds, or managed money, increased their net long live cattle position for the fifth straight week during the week ended Tuesday to its largest position in more than a year. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday that commercial traders, those who actually own or handle the … Read More

Debate rages over the USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration’s announced update in regulations that “protects the rights of farmers.” Proponents of the rules say they are long overdue, especially in the chicken industry where many feel they have been the victim of chicken company, or integrator, retaliation for a variety of things. Opponents … Read More

Live cattle futures have held their rally that started with the Thursday, Oct. 13, low of $97.80 per cwt, and the market seems to want to add more bullishness into the equation, that is, if the US dollar will cooperate. Many market analysts in October and through November kept advising scale-up hedge selling by cattle … Read More

For cow/calf producers, 2016 will go down as a tough, tough year as calf prices in many cases have not covered the cost of feed, labor, management and investment.  Some are beginning to wonder if what has been a growing US cattle herd could turn suddenly into a declining herd. That could be a reason … Read More