The USDA Wednesday reduced its estimate of this year’s total red meat and poultry production by 113 million pounds, or 0.12%, to 97.439 billion pounds from its estimate of 97.552 billion last month. However, all of the cuts came in a reduced estimate of chicken production, as the forecasts for total beef and pork production … Read More

Feedlot margins faded deeper into the red last week as fed cattle prices dipped.  At the same time, packer margins were calculated to have risen for the same reason. The Sterling Beef Profit Tracker by John Nalivka, president of Sterling Marketing Inc., and published by AgWeb, had feedlot margins for unhedged cattle sold last week … Read More

Managed money and commercial traders sold live cattle futures positions in the week ended Tuesday, a move that signals a more bearish attitude among traders. In its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said that as of Tuesday, managed money, or large commodity funds, had a net long live cattle … Read More

Cattle and beef supply challenges mean producer and lender caution is warranted, but all is not lost, said Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University extension livestock marketing specialist in a market comment. Growth in cattle inventories and beef production do not constitute a wreck, and paralyzing fear that cripples decision making may prevent producers from taking … Read More

If cow/calf producers have calves to market this fall, the best strategy is to turn freshly weaned calves into yearlings and sell them immediately, said a prominent agricultural economist. Dan Childs, senior consultant for the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation said in a market analysis that marketing those yearlings through a value-added sale would be even … Read More

Consistently lower estimated and real cow/calf returns this year may lower heifer retention for breeding but could play only a minor role in total herd growth as of Jan. 1, as reported by the USDA. The Livestock Marketing Information Center has consistently ratcheted down estimated cow-calf returns this year.  Fourth-quarter calf prices were estimated to … Read More

US hog inventories are rising, reaching record proportions as of Sep. 1, according to the USDA’s quarterly Hogs and Pigs report Friday.  As a result, some analysts said after the report that fourth-quarter slaughter capacity will be strained to the limit. And when slaughter capacity for any food livestock is tested with record supplies, lower … Read More