Managed money, or large fund investors, liquidated a net 6,562 live cattle contracts during the week ended last Tuesday to leave themselves net long by only 78,003 contracts, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report.  This is the lowest net long position for these traders since the week ended April … Read More

In addition to giving the world democracy, Greece is on a course to shake up the global financial world. Greek voters, in a referendum Sunday, rejected creditor demands for more austerity as a way to find a solution to the country’s debt crisis, opening the way to a possible exit from the European Union.  The … Read More

If too much of anything is a bad thing, then too much rain is becoming a bad thing for many US grain and soybean producers. “Rain makes grain” is an axiom for grain and soybean traders around the world, but too much rain in parts of the US Midwest has kept farmers out of many … Read More

Cash prices for slaughter steers in the Southern Plains fell below year ago levels last week as the market more closely follows the seasonal pattern than the 2014 trend. USDA data on cash prices shows an average price last week of $147.98 per cwt, down from $150.01 the week before and below $149.80 in the … Read More

The rate at which finished Kansas feedlot cattle gained weight while in the feedlot went down last month, a conclusion that can be correlated to the higher weights at which the young calves were placed on feed. Monthly Kansas State University data show that the cattle that were sent to slaughter in May had a … Read More

Managed money funds cut their net long positions in live cattle futures during the week ended Tuesday to 84,565 contracts, taking them to their lowest position since the week ended May 5 when it was 79,351. At the same time, commercial traders, those who handle the actual cattle at some point, covered a net 7,389 … Read More

As egg producers search for ways to comply with California’s new rules on space for laying hens requiring that a laying hen be able to stretch her wings fully, a new study of different types of housing reveal the tradeoffs. Temple Grandin, professor of agricultural economics at Colorado State University, reviewed the results of the … Read More