Reading Time: 2 minutes Americans will have plenty of beef for the freezer, with enough left over to export in 2011, but supply will shrink in 2012 because the cattle herd is getting smaller, according to U.S. government reports released July 22. A USDA feedlot cattle report showed 10.45 million cattle were being fattened for slaughter on July 1, […] Read more
Plenty of U.S. beef – for now, that is
No future for pork belly futures
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago’s iconic pork belly market has closed after 50 years of being the subject of jokes for movies and TV shows and satisfying Americans’ hunger for bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwiches. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange shut down the frozen pork belly futures market at the end of business on Friday, July 15. The closing had been expected. Trading […] Read more
U.S. hog herd up slightly, no expansion yet
Reading Time: 2 minutes U.S. hog producers are not expanding herds as worries about high feed costs have them managing what they have, analysts said Friday after a government report showed only a slight increase in hogs. The U.S. Agriculture Department showed the hog herd as of March 1 at 63.964 million head, up 0.7 per cent from a […] Read more
U.S. cattle, hogs recover Friday from quake-related selloff
Reading Time: 2 minutes U.S. cattle and hog futures closed sharply higher Friday and for the week with the April cattle the highest ever for a lead contract on widespread fund buying and short covering. Both markets have fully recovered the losses incurred shortly after Japan’s March 11 earthquake. In the days after that disaster, cattle futures lost about […] Read more
U.S. hogs tumble on Japan demand worry after quake
Reading Time: 2 minutes U.S. hog futures fell Friday, closing at their lowest in four days on worries that sales could slow to Japan, the top export market for U.S. pork, after a massive earthquake damaged ports and roadways. “We have to assume lower demand from Japan from consumer fear and confusion. Additionally, we have to assume a portion […] Read more
Higher prices will test consumers’ taste for beef
Reading Time: 2 minutes (Reuters) — Lady Gaga’s favourite Judas Priest burger will still cost $12 at Kuma’s Corner as the trendy Chicago eatery resists raising prices, even though the cost of making that burger has gone up. “You can’t pass it on, not in times like this,” Kuma’s manager Frank DeBoss said of the higher beef prices, which […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
