Total US red meat and poultry production for 2024 was forecast by the USDA to be 1% less than 2023, as lower beef and fractionally lower pork production offset higher poultry production. Total red meat and poultry production forecasts for 2023 were raised from last month.  Higher 2023 beef, pork and broiler production estimates more … Read More

Hog market reaction was swift Thursday following the US Supreme Court’s decision to uphold California’s Proposition 12, which dictates that all fresh pork sold within the state come from sows that were given 24 square feet of floor space. Producer groups said the cost of pork to the consumer would rise sharply because of this … Read More

Kansas feedlot closeouts declined in March in a slightly counter-seasonal move, dipping below the 2017-2021 average but staying above those of March 2022, according to statistics gathered by the Kansas State University Extension service and compiled by the Livestock Marketing Information Center in Denver. The data is collected from feedlots around the state, selected for … Read More

US March pork exports were the largest since May 2021, according to data released by USDA and compiled by the US Meat Export Federation.  Beef exports were the largest since October but still less than last year’s high volume.   PORK EXPORTS UP 17%   March pork exports totaled 260,195 tonnes, up 37.614, or 16.9%, … Read More

In what has been described as a “historically bad year,” many Kansas farmers are facing a tough decision: what to do with drought-stressed wheat that has little-to-no chance of making a crop. “Abandonment will be a big deal (this year) – the real unknown,” said Kansas Wheat Commission CEO Justin Gilpin. The state currently is … Read More

During the week ended Tuesday, managed money boosted their collective net long live cattle futures position, while hedgers advanced their total net short position, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday. Those changes came as the most-active Jun delivery month rose to challenge the contract high and then … Read More

Exceptional drought conditions appear to be building in the Central Plains, stressing large swaths of Hard Red Winter wheat acreage, although formerly droughty western states as well as the Midwest and Southeast moisture conditions are mostly normal, according to the latest weekly Drought Monitor from the National Weather Service.   DROUGHT SUMMARY   A pair … Read More