Large commodity index funds, known as managed money, extended their collective net long live cattle futures position in the week ended Tuesday for the eleventh straight week, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Friday. At the same time, hedgers, often referred to as commercial traders since they deal more in the cash … Read More

October steer closeouts, or sales, to beef packers from Kansas feedlots fell seasonally and could be the lowest of the season, according to data from the Kansas State University Extension Service. The KSU Extension Service collects feed yard performance data monthly from a select group of feedlots around the state, and the Livestock Marketing Information … Read More

The Federal Reserve Bank’s Beige Book, a summary of US economic activity that is published eight times a year, Thursday said economic activity rose slightly in most Federal Reserve districts since the last report on Oct. 23. Three regions exhibited modest or moderate growth that offset flat or slightly declining activity in two others, the … Read More

Farmer sentiment jumped again in November, with the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer climbing 30 points to a reading of 145, marking the highest level since May 2021, said Purdue Agricultural Economist James Mintert, in a release. Both of the barometer’s sub-indices increased in November. The Future Expectations Index saw the largest jump, rising … Read More

Now that the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has suspended temporarily imports of Mexican cattle into the US, there are many questions about the implications the closure might have on US cattle markets. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension livestock marketing specialist, wrote a study of those implications in a letter called Cow-Calf … Read More

Wet weather has been a welcome relief for many areas of the country over the last few weeks, but the drought isn’t over, wrote Will Secor, Extension livestock economist at the University of Georgia, in a letter for the Livestock Marketing Information Center. “In particular, rains in late October and early November alleviated drought or … Read More

The 2024 Livestock Marketing Information Center’s Retail All Fresh Beef Demand Index may be up if fourth-quarter statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the USDA’s Economic Research Service follow the trend of the first three. The retail pork demand annual index showed more variation through the first three quarters of this year, yielding … Read More