USDA released its monthly Cattle on Feed (COF) report this past Friday. The on-feed inventory as of 1 January was 11.58 million head or 108 percent of last year, which is consistent with pre-report estimates. This is the third month in a row that the total has exceeded 11 million head and the 21st month of the last 24 that it has been larger than prior year levels.
Placements in December totaled 1.8 million head or 101 percent of December 2016, the largest monthly volume since September 2011. Marketings were 1.75 million head or 99 percent of year-ago levels.
Placements continue to be driven by poor pasture and range conditions due to drought, although they are steadily trending down since the record level in October. Those by state c...
What You Need to Know Today: A third U.S. border crossing (Columbus, New Mexico) has reopened to Mexican cattle imports following nearly two years of restrictions related to New World screwworm. The reopening could gradually improve feeder cattle availability, although more than 60 confi...
Yesterday, the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) released a new report of negotiated cash purchases of cattle under the mandatory price report. The report included Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. The goal of the report was to solve the confidentiality issues e...
Key Takeaways: U.S. soybean crushing began in 1911 and saw its most rapid expansion during the 1930s amid the broader agricultural and technology revolutions of the time. After peaking in the early 2000s, the soybean crushing industry went through a downturn as poor crush margins forced...
