It’s little wonder that cattle producers across the country are increasing their herd sizes and keeping calves on pasture longer before selling them to the feedlots.  Thanks to this year’s renewed rainfall, ranges and pasture are in the best shape in years. But that’s about to change.  Seasonally, some grasses wither in the heat of … Read More

Estimated beef packer margins rose $51.36 a head last week as lower fed cattle prices and higher beef prices combined to help their bottom lines.  Feedlot margins also improved, but remain very much in the red. The Sterling Beef Profit Tracker, calculated by Sterling Marketing and published by Ag Web, estimated unhedged feedlot margins at … Read More

The USDA’s Cold Storage report Monday was considered slightly bearish for beef, pork and chicken markets as it showed more of all three on ice than a year ago, but less than a month ago. The monthly decline of beef and pork in cold storage is seasonal and is holding the lines evenly above last … Read More

Managed money cut its net long cattle positions and now has the lowest net long position in five weeks as nearby futures peaked and then fell away. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Commitments of Traders report for the week ended June 16 showed that Managed Money cut its net long cattle position to 87,966 contracts … Read More

Wholesale US beef prices headed higher this week turning against a seasonal trend but with much more volatility. USDA data on the choice boxed beef cutout value show that prices rose every day since Friday’s low of $245.72 per cwt.  The value Thursday had risen $5.11, or 11.2% to $250.83. The spread between choice and … Read More

Ahead of the USDA’s monthly Cattle-On-Feed report due for release on Friday, market analysts estimated that the number of young cattle placed into feedlots during May was 7.2% below last May at 1.772 million head.  This would continue a pattern of lower placements that many link to fewer heifers being sent to the feedlots. However, … Read More

Some groups point to USDA statistics about how cattle are sold to packers for slaughter and say sellers are giving the buyers too much control over weekly fed cattle prices, and that it’s hard to tell what cattle are really worth. Others will say that enough open negotiation continues each week to make pricing determinations. … Read More