Commodity investment funds, or managed money, expanded their net long live cattle futures position during the week ended Tuesday for the third straight week, signaling a slightly more bullish outlook. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in its weekly Commitments Of Traders report Friday that during that week, managed money had raised their net long … Read More

Total red meat production rose seasonally during the second week of July as pork production expanded beyond the reach of even last year’s inflated production. USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service and National Agricultural Statistics Service data show total red meat production for that week at 931 million pounds.  This was comprised of pork production at 444.1 … Read More

Weekly US beef prices continue to show a bearish bias, contrary to the 2010-2014 average, as more product enters the wholesale and retail pipeline. Some market analysts like Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist Darrell Peel in the Oklahoma Farm Report also think summer heat may be making consumers and traders alike a little … Read More

The US’ competitive advantage in beef production in comparison to other beef breeding countries has enabled it to increase its global beef trade, said the USDA’s Economic Research Service in its monthly Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook. The 2016 forecast for US beef exports, at 2.469 billion pounds, is 203 million, or 8.96%, higher than … Read More

Monthly retail beef prices have resumed their upward trek and are widening the gap between beef and pork or chicken. After peaking in May of last year at an average of 196.99 cents a pound, prices declined to a low of 187.42 cents in February 2016, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and USDA’s Economic Research … Read More

Commodity funds, or managed money, all but kept their net long live cattle position in place during the week ended Tuesday, while commercial traders cut their net short position significantly. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, in its Friday Commitments of Traders report, said managed money’s net long cattle position was 19,186 contracts, up 29, or … Read More

Beef and cattle markets appear to be stronger than might be expected in the middle of summer’s heat, but supplies may overrun the market in coming months, an economist warns. Stephen Koontz, professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at Colorado State University, this week wrote for the Livestock Marketing Information Center that slaughter rates are … Read More