For the fifth straight week, managed money, or large commodity index funds, enlarged their collective net long live cattle position as cattle owners increased their total net short position. The data came from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday, which reported trader class activity for the week ended Tuesday.   … Read More

The first week of February, 500-pound steers in Oklahoma posted a weekly record price of $321.34 per cwt, surpassing the previous high of $312.72 in November 2014, said Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension livestock marketing specialist, in a letter called Cow-Calf Corner. For the first three weeks of February, the price of those steers … Read More

If seasonal norms are followed, the difference between the wholesale prices of choice and select beef prices at the carcass level should begin widening soon. Usually, choice-graded beef commands a higher wholesale price than select, even though the US produces much more choice beef than select, because consumers are willing to pay more for the … Read More

USDA data showed US cattle imports from Mexico rose sharply last year while those from Canada declined. The data, released by the USDA and compiled by the Livestock Marketing Information Center in Denver, also showed that cattle imports from the US’ two closest trading partners fell short of record years.   IMPORTS COULD INCREASE   … Read More

In early February the USDA’s Economic Research Service estimated lower returns for the farm sector in 2024. Matthew Diersen, risk and business management specialist at South Dakota State University, said in a Livestock Marketing Information Center letter called In The Cattle Markets, that the cattle sector, aggregating everything from cow-calf operations through feedlots, was expected … Read More

Managed money, a proxy for large commodity index funds, advanced their collective net long live cattle futures position during the week ended Tuesday. The weekly Commitments of Traders report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Friday also said hedgers increased their total net short position in the CFTC-reporting week.   MANAGED MONEY BUYS CATTLE   … Read More

The US Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service Tuesday said the 2022 Census of Agriculture showed a continued decline in the total number of US farms but a rise in new and beginning producers. The survey is conducted every five years and this latest survey collected move than 6 million data points.   WHAT … Read More