Many cattle and beef market analysts feel that beef’s main competitor at the retail level is chicken, not pork.  Thus, it pays to pay attention to what poultry companies, called integrators, are doing. The statistics most used by market analysts are contained in the USDA’s monthly Chicken and Eggs report, which was released Tuesday.  Broiler … Read More

Average retail beef prices in May were down, pressuring fed cattle prices, and the outlook for a reversal of this trend looks bleak without a major demand driver. The average price for all fresh beef in grocery stores during May was $5.838 a pound, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics and the USDA’s Economic Research … Read More

In its monthly Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook, the USDA’s Economic Research Service lowered its 2016 estimated beef production to 24.7 billion pounds from the previous estimate of 24.8 billion amid lower slaughter weights in May. However, the estimated 2016 beef production still is 4.12% higher than the 24.7 billion pounds produced in 2015.  And … Read More

Large investment funds, called managed money, and those who handle the cattle inched their net positions toward the long side during the week ended Tuesday. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission made the revelations Friday in its weekly Commitments Of Traders report.  The report showed managed money with a net long position of 24,404 contracts, up … Read More

Live cattle futures are on a downward trail that may lead to a challenge of contract lows very soon. The most-active Aug contract Thursday settled at $113.35 per cwt, down $0.22, but the low of $111.75 got close to the May 26 low of $111.45 and the contract low of $110.92 set Apr. 22.  Support … Read More

Slaughter steer prices are coming under pressure from two fronts, and a change does not appear imminent. Those pressure points are coming from within the industry and from the economy, which is growing so slowly the Federal Open Market Committee may not raise the Federal Funds interest rate following its June meeting, a move thought … Read More

US May 1 hay stocks, reported by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service in their May Crop Production report, were the largest since 2005 at 25.14 million short tons. Records maintained by the Livestock Marketing Information Center show it was the second year in a row that stocks had returned to historically normal levels from drought-depleted … Read More