Net cash farm income for 2016 was forecast at $90.1 billion, down 14.6% from the 2015 estimate and the third straight year of declines, said the USDA’s Economic Research Service Thursday. In highlights from the November Farm Income Forecast, 2016 net farm income, a more comprehensive measure of profitability, was forecast to be $66.9 billion, … Read More

In general, feeder cattle futures prices did decline with the Nov futures contract as expected after the CME Group’s changes to the contract, but the cattle industry seems to be taking it in stride and is even retaking some ground. “Nobody is talking about it,” said Nevil Speer, vice president of US operations for AgriClear … Read More

Fed cattle prices finally surged last week to $108-110 per cwt in many cash markets, and to David Anderson, professor and extension economist at Texas A&M University, the move is overdue. Writing for the Livestock Marketing Information Center’s weekly In The Cattle Markets, Anderson said, high beef live-to-cutout spreads over the last couple of months, … Read More

Beef markets are following seasonal trends, for the most part, but actual prices differ significantly from last year and the 2010-2014 average.  Taken as a whole, they generally point to a normal realignment of prices for the various primal cuts after the New Year’s holiday.   RIBEYE MAY BE CHANGING   Of all the various … Read More

The new ethanol blend mandate from the Environmental Protection Agency last week is good for corn growers, not so good for livestock producers. The EPA’s 2017 Renewable Fuel Standard mandated a 1.2-billion-gallon increase in the amount of renewable fuels blended into the fuel supply next year to 19.28 billion, a 6% increase over current levels … Read More

US Feedlots continued a strong marketing pace in October with sales to packers up 4.6% year over year, despite one less business day in the month, said Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist in a release. October placements followed the September pattern with another 5% reduction from October 2015, Peel pointed out. … Read More

Total red meat supplies in cold storage as of Oct. 31 were down 3% from Sep. 30 but up 1% from a year earlier, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service’s monthly Cold Storage report Tuesday. The monthly report said beef supplies in US freezers amounted to 532.326 million pounds, up 13.304 million, or … Read More