The USDA expects total meat production for 2015 and 2016 to be close to previous estimates as economists predict a decline in beef and pork output and an increase in poultry production. The USDA made the predictions Tuesday in its monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, which lowered its forecast for 2015 red … Read More

Cash cattle prices are turning south, and with futures seemingly in a freefall, fed cattle prices in the Plains are almost certainly doomed to drop further. Such a move would exacerbate feedlot losses and could bring a general flushing of overly fat cattle to slaughter.  This may be part of the reason for a sharp, … Read More

The largest players in live cattle futures moved their net positions toward the short side of the market during the week ended Tuesday, even though the Dec contract was making a two-month cycle high. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report said managed money, or large speculative firms, and commercial traders, those … Read More

US beef exports in September continued to struggle while pork exports showed modest gains, according to the USDA. Beef exports during the month fell 20,594 tonnes, or 20.6% in volume from a year earlier to 79,474 from 100,068 tonnes in September 2014.  The value of these exports was down $175.3 million, or 27.7%, to $456.6 … Read More

It looks like the old adage, that high prices cure high prices is holding true as the high prices do their job in stimulating herd expansion that now is pressuring cattle prices. Chris Hurt, livestock market extension economist at Purdue University wrote recently that most likely, the highest cash cattle prices of this cattle cycle … Read More

Feedlots are liable to see their feed costs hold relatively stable for the foreseeable future as corn prices rattle around in a sideways pattern, a prominent agricultural economist wrote. Darrel Good, agricultural economist at the University of Illinois, said, “A broad sideways pattern (for corn prices) is expected to continue through the winter months.  A … Read More

Cash cattle prices may be topping out in spite of a seasonal tendency to move higher through the rest of the year. A Livestock Marketing Information Center graph of USDA average Southern Plains fed cattle prices for the year shows the downward path the market has been on since Jan. 1. A pronounced dip in … Read More