CME August 2019 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs up on bargain buying

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures closed higher on Wednesday in light bargain-buying after last week’s slide to three-month lows, but soft cash markets and ample hog supplies hung over the market and limited rallies, traders said. CME July lean hog futures settled up 0.15 cent at 81.625 cents/lb. and […] Read more

CME October 2019 live cattle, with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle closed mixed

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures closed mixed on Tuesday, with expectations for a weak cash trade pressuring the benchmark August contract while back months ended firm, traders said. Packers were not bidding aggressively for cattle, a factor that some traders took as a bearish signal. “The bids that were out […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder market shrugs off feed grain rally

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle prices were $2-$5 higher on average. Noted strength was in the 700-plus-lb. categories, which spilt over into the lighter calves. Quality groups of yearlings were limited and the scarcity fear factor had a grip on the market. The U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered its fourth-quarter beef production […] Read more



CME August 2019 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs slide on fund liquidation

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures fell more than two per cent on Friday on long liquidation and slower-than-expected export demand for U.S. pork supplies, analysts and traders said. Traders have been anticipating a jump in U.S. pork exports this year as African swine fever, a deadly hog disease, ravages China’s […] Read more

CME August 2019 feeder cattle with Bollinger (20,2) bands, a gauge of market volatility. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle futures end lower

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures fell Thursday for a second straight session, pressured by technical selling and expectations of ample U.S. summertime supplies of cattle and beef, traders said. “We’re still just in the middle of June, and we know we have a big supply coming in,” said Scott Varilek, […] Read more


CME August 2019 live cattle, with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hog futures sag under pressure from big supplies

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. livestock futures weakened on Wednesday under pressure from large numbers of cattle and hogs and uncertainty over demand, traders said. Declines in the markets reflected expectations that meat supplies will remain plentiful, after farmers expanded their herds. Beef production in the third quarter of 2019 is expected to top seven […] Read more

(Gloria Solano-Aguilar photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. livestock: Hog futures pull back on large supplies

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. hog futures tumbled on Tuesday as traders said a rally the previous day looked overdone in the face of large supplies. Feeder cattle futures also weakened, while live cattle futures closed higher. Hog futures pulled back after climbing on Monday, when traders were relieved that U.S. President Donald Trump had […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder cattle demand softens

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling prices were $2-$4 lower on average while calves were down $3-$5 depending on the region. Weakness in the fed cattle market continues to spill over into the feeder complex, as margins drift further into red ink. Alberta packers were buying fed cattle in the range of $245-$246 delivered […] Read more