Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling prices were down $3-$5; calves traded $2-$6 below week-ago levels. The market has come under pressure for three main reasons. Cattle on feed inventories in Alberta and Saskatchewan are 36 per cent above the five-year average. Many feedlots are comfortable with ownership levels. The drought caused about 150,000 […] Read more

Klassen: Demand for feeder cattle eases

U.S. livestock: CME hogs rise, live cattle slip ahead of USDA reports
Cattle on feed top trade estimates
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures climbed on Friday, largely supported by positioning ahead of a key hog inventory report issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) after the close, analysts said. Higher cash pork prices and the still-wide discount of futures to cash hog prices were also supportive. […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs firm on China’s herd restrictions
Cattle mixed to lower ahead of report
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures firmed on Thursday, after China lowered its sow herd targets in an effort to ensure supply and stabilize prices. China’s ministry of agriculture and rural affairs said the target for its sow herd was now around 41 million head for 2021-2025 and should be […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME cattle rebound on improving cash markets, beef prices
CME lean hogs also up off Thursday losses
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange rebounded from prior-session losses on Friday, supported by signs of improving cash cattle prices and firming wholesale beef values, traders said. Prices, however, continued to struggle to break out of their recent trading range as concerns about slowing global economic growth and rising […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures gain
Medium-, long-term supplies tighten
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — CME feeder cattle futures firmed on Friday, bolstered by lower corn and wheat markets that may translate into eased feed costs, traders said. CME live cattle also gained and are expected to firm next week as the trade digests the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s monthly cattle on feed report released after […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME cattle, hog contracts end firm
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — CME cattle and hog futures rose on Wednesday, supported by concerns about near-term supplies, traders said. Analysts were expecting a U.S. Agriculture Department report on Friday to show that the number of cattle on feed as of July 1 was 99 per cent of the year-earlier amount. Placements during June were […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Hog futures firm on technical buying
Cattle futures up ahead of USDA placements report
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures firmed on Friday, supported by technical buying after sagging to their lowest in nearly three months on Thursday, traders said. CME August hog futures, the most actively traded contract, ended up 1.075 cents at 99.775 cents (all figures US$). The wholesale U.S. pork carcass cutout price […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures sink as on-feed supply tops estimates
Profit-taking drags on hogs
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures retreated on Monday after U.S. government data showed supplies in feedlots above trade expectations and as some traders worried about demand for beef. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said late on Friday that May 1 on-feed cattle supplies stood at 105 per cent of […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Hog futures rally to highest since August 2014
USDA's latest cattle count beats forecasts
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures rallied on Friday to their highest in nearly seven years, with strong demand outstripping supplies on hand as restaurants around the U.S. have been reopening after COVID-19 shutdowns, traders said. “We are seeing strong retail demand, with the food service trying to recapture their share of […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures climb on USDA report
Lean hog futures' gains continue
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures gained on Monday, supported by Friday’s monthly Cattle on Feed report that showed smaller-than-expected placements, traders said. Chicago Mercantile Exchange June live cattle futures settled 0.55 cent higher at 116.275 cents/lb. while the August contract ended 1.1 cents higher at 117.95 cents (all figures US$). “It wasn’t […] Read more