Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures closed firm on Monday, rallying after a sharply lower open as strong packer margins raised expectations for higher cash cattle trade this week, analysts said. Average beef packer margins rose to $320.18 per head, from $313.25 on Friday, according to livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.com (all figures […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures up on cash market optimism
Wholesale pork values support October hogs
Minnesota fields thrive, Iowa storm damage continues on crop tour
Chicago | Reuters — Scouts on an annual U.S. Midwest crop tour continued to see fields battered by an Aug. 10 derecho storm in central Iowa on Thursday, with corn stalks snapped and ears littering the ground due to the hurricane-like winds. In Iowa, crop prospects swung wildly from field to field, according to scouts […] Read more
Wet harvests hurt U.S., Canadian spring wheat quality
Chicago | Reuters — Excessively wet conditions in the northern U.S. Plains and Canadian Prairies have hurt the quality of the region’s spring and durum wheat crops, potentially tightening supplies of top grades of the grains, handlers and agronomists said. Rains and heavy dew have slowed the harvest and, worse, caused mature, un-harvested wheat kernels […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME hogs limit down as trade war heats up
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures tumbled on Friday, with the benchmark October contract falling its daily three-cent limit after China announced a fresh set of tariffs on U.S. agricultural products, traders said. China will levy extra 10 per cent tariffs on U.S. beef and pork from Sept. 1, its commerce […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle extend climb on robust packer margins
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures advanced for a fourth straight session on Thursday, led by the nearby August contract as robust profit margins for beef packers fueled expectations of strong demand for cash cattle, traders said. “Packers are just raking it in, so the incentive is there to ramp up […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME cattle rise on strong beef demand
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures closed higher on Wednesday for a third session as strong demand for beef ahead of the Labour Day holiday bolstered margins for meat packers, traders said. CME October live cattle futures ended up 0.225 cent at 100.225 cents/lb., and October feeder cattle settled up 0.9 […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle climb on wholesale beef demand
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures closed higher on Tuesday for a second session, supported by strong wholesale beef demand ahead of the Labour Day holiday weekend, analysts said. Retailers are stocking their meat cases this week ahead of the Labour Day holiday on Sept. 2, while a Tyson Foods slaughterhouse […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures up on larger-than-expected weekly slaughter
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures closed higher on Monday after U.S. government data showed last week’s slaughter was bigger than the previous week’s, despite a fire that shuttered a Kansas beef plant. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated the weekly U.S. cattle slaughter through Saturday at 651,000 head, up from […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs up on technical buying, cash values
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures neared a three-week high on Wednesday, buoyed by a mix of technical buying and ideas that a glut of U.S. hog supplies was showing signs of tightening, traders said. Fears of an expansion in Asia of the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in China […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Lean hogs up as swine fever fuels export hopes
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) rose for a second day on Wednesday, supported by expectations of increased demand for U.S. pork as African swine fever spreads in China’s hog herd and elsewhere, traders said. “The African swine fever news and talk was everywhere today,” said Dennis […] Read more