Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) feeder cattle futures reached life-of-contract highs, while live cattle futures hit multi-month peaks on Thursday, as meat packers struggled to find inventory, analysts said.
Cow-calf
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures rise sharply on low inventory
U.S. livestock: Lean hog futures fall on year-end position squaring, demand doubts
Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures fell to two-month lows on Tuesday, as traders squared positions before the year's end and uncertainty lingered over export demand in the coming months, market analysts said.
Early-gestating beef cows need good nutrition
Better Bunks and Pastures: Two-stage use of minerals over the fall and winter can help cows maintain body condition at a better cost
Late autumn is when many spring calves are weaned and removed from their moms. The remaining cow herd is now in its earliest weeks of gestation and requires a modest level of nutrition. It is an opportunity to feed some of the most cost-effective forage diets. But as time goes on, beef cows’ nutrient requirements […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder market has many factors to digest in 2025
For the week ending December 28, there were no feeder cattle sales in Western Canada; however, that didn’t stop cattle producers from emailing or calling me over the holidays inquiring about market direction. I thought it would be an opportune time to discuss a couple factors that will influence the market direction over the next couple of months.
U.S. livestock: Lean hog futures fall on domestic, export demand uncertainty
Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures fell to two-month lows on Monday, hit by profit-taking and growing uncertainty over domestic and export demand in the coming months, market analysts said.
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures rise on strong beef, cash cattle markets
Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) live cattle futures ended higher on Friday, buoyed by rising wholesale beef prices and firm cash cattle markets, traders said.
$7.9 million cattle research project aims to find rumen efficiencies
Cross-Canada project to reduce methane production will be led by UBC researcher
A pan-Canadian research project will try to understand more about how methane is generated in the rumen of beef and dairy cattle.
The fall run: the rancher’s sprint
A Little Bit Western: Most of the revenue, data and calf movement come in the fall
I like to joke that ranching is a marathon, except when it is a sprint, and then it’s that too. There are certainly times when you are racing from one urgent task to another. While it feels like the rest of the working world has three to five business days to respond to a request, […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs end flat, demand for US pork underpins prices
Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures finished flat on Tuesday as strong demand for U.S. pork underpinned the market a day after federal data showed the nation's herd was slightly bigger than expected, analysts said.
Klassen: Feeder market finishes 2024 on strong tone
For the week ending December 21, Western Canadian backgrounded cattle and heavier calves were unchanged to $5 lower on average. Calves in the 600-800 pound range were relatively unchanged while calves under 600 pounds were steady to $10 higher.
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