Reading Time: 2 minutes Last week, the feeder market started on a very sluggish tone. Buyers were sitting back waiting for the market to establish direction. By Friday, yearling prices were up $2-$4 compared to seven days earlier, while calves were trading $4 to as much as $8 above week-ago levels. Cow-calf producers and backgrounding operators have been holding […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder market experiences fortuitous bounce
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures end mostly lower
Hogs also ease as rally pauses
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Benchmark June live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange closed lower on Wednesday for the first time in five sessions as the market paused after a sharp rally driven by soaring retail beef prices. Wholesale beef prices jumped and packer profit margins skyrocketed this week as the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures limit up as beef prices surge
Hog futures also limit up, following cattle higher
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures rose their daily limit on Monday, lifted by strong packer margins, rising wholesale beef prices and expectations of higher cash cattle prices this week after Tyson Foods said it would pay producers a one-time premium, traders said. Benchmark June live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Plentiful supply pressures CME hogs
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. hog futures fell on Monday in a turnaround from a two-week high last week, as large inventories pressured prices. Meat packers slaughtered an estimated 496,000 pigs, up from 475,000 a year ago, putting extra pork on the market. U.S. hog supplies are large after farmers expanded their herds to supply […] Read more
Cargill’s quarterly profit up on beef, egg demand
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Global commodities trader Cargill reported a three per cent increase in adjusted quarterly profit on Thursday, citing strong consumer demand for meat and eggs in North America and growth in its animal nutrition businesses. Cargill, the largest privately held U.S. company, said its adjusted operating earnings rose to $908 million in […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle slide as traders eye weak cash prices
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. cattle futures fell on Friday on weakness in the cash market, while hog futures ended mixed. Cattle futures and cash prices have tumbled since a fire at a Tyson Foods slaughterhouse at Holcomb, Kansas, this month removed a key buyer from the market. Some farmers have tried to delay cattle […] Read more
USDA to probe beef market after Tyson plant fire
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue ordered an investigation into widening prices between cattle and beef on Wednesday after a recent fire at a Tyson Foods slaughterhouse in Holcomb, Kansas, shut the plant. Cattle prices have tanked because the fire temporarily eliminated a key buyer of livestock. Producers have worried that meat […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs near limit up on renewed pork export hopes
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures soared by the daily limit and approached a one-month high on Wednesday on renewed hopes that China will increase pork imports to compensate for pigs killed in a widespread outbreak of a fatal swine disease. China’s agriculture ministry said a new outbreak of African swine […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures weaken as beef prices decline
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) live cattle and feeder cattle futures slumped on Tuesday as concerns about declining beef prices continued to hang over the markets. Decreasing beef prices have spurred expectations that meat packers such as Tyson and Cargill may be less aggressive when bidding to buy cattle, said Mike Sands, […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Live cattle set eight-month low on weak cash prices
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures dropped to an eight-month low on Wednesday on weakness in the cash market and as boxed beef prices declined, traders said. Lean hog futures also came under pressure. Weak cash prices for cattle set a bearish tone for futures that will likely linger for the rest of […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
