Range and pasture rated in either good or excellent condition as of July 7 stood at 69%, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) in their weekly crop weather bulletin. Last year, 51% of pasture were judged that favorable. At the other end of the spectrum, 8% of pastures were rated in poor to very poor in the latest week compared to 21% a year ago. … Continue reading
The first half of 2019 has been a wild ride for cattle markets in the Southeast. A seasonal rise to start the year pushed Mississippi steer prices above 2018 levels where they remained for several weeks into April. However, quickly following was a rapid decline to levels below year-ago. Seasonality was the undercurrent but was far from the only driver. … Continue reading
As the cattle market continues to watch what is going on in corn markets, a major report was released on Friday. The annual USDA acreage report was released on Friday and showed a significantly smaller decrease in the number of corn acres in the U.S. than many were expecting it to show. This led to a wild day of trading in corn futures on Friday and left corn futures prices sharply lower by the closing bell. … Continue reading
The latest Cattle on Feed report showed 11.7 million head of cattle in feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head. This was a 1.6 percent increase over last year and the largest June 1st total on record going back to at least 1996 when the series began.
Placements were down about 3 percent compared to a year ago. … Continue reading
It was only 2 months ago that I wrote the following headline in this newsletter: Large Estimates Push Corn Prices Lower. Included in that article was the story was that many farmers were planning to swap form soybeans to corn due to soybean price concerns and that the estimate that there should be plenty of corn this year is positive for feedlot demand. … Continue reading
This week’s article was written by Dr. Derrell Peel at Oklahoma State University and is a great addition to the discussion on trade from last week available here.
Cattle and beef markets have decreased from April highs with uncertainty in a variety of factors weighing on markets the past month. The latest threat of additional tariffs on Mexico rattled many markets last week, … Continue reading
The trade war with China is now in its 16th month with little evidence of an end in the near future. It appeared that an agreement was imminent at one point but no deal was struck in that round. Agriculture has faced some of the most significant impacts from retaliatory tariffs placed on U.S. commodities shipped to China. … Continue reading
The big news in beef markets last week was the increased access of U.S. beef in Japan. The agreement allows U.S. beef from all age cattle to enter Japan which removes a previous 30-month age limit. Below is an excerpt from the USDA announcement.
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that this expanded access could increase U.S. … Continue reading
The latest USDA Cattle on Feed report included the quarterly feedlot inventories for steers and heifers. An estimated 4.5 million head of heifers were on feed on April 1st which is the largest April total on record and the largest total for any quarterly report since January 1, 2001. The number of heifers on feed was up 7.6 percent year-over-year while the number of steers in feedlots was down 1.1 percent compared to the same time last year. … Continue reading
The USDA Prospective Plantings and the Quarterly Grain Stocks reports were released at the end of March and showed an increase in expected corn acres above 2018 levels. Corn planted area is estimated at 92.8 million acres which is four percent or about 3.66 million acres above last year. The 92.8 million number was on the high end of expectations going into the report. … Continue reading
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