CME October 2020 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures up on cash market optimism

Wholesale pork values support October hogs

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



CME October 2020 live cattle with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures rise on supply concerns

CME lean hog futures down

Chicago | Reuters — Live cattle futures rose to their highest in more than a month on Thursday, supported by signs of a stabilizing cash market and concerns about tight supplies in the coming months, traders said. “The feedlots believe… that we have a marketing hole for most of October into December,” Don Roose, president […] Read more

CME December 2020 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Live cattle futures up ahead of USDA report

Hogs also up ahead of separate USDA data

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures gained on Wednesday, as traders weighed continued strong slaughter rates against expectations for higher placements in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s end-of-week Cattle on Feed report. “The beef market looks like it’s possibly stabilizing, and that should be supportive for cattle prices in the near term,” said […] Read more


A tract of Amazon jungle burns as it is cleared by farmers at Rio Pardo in Brazil’s Rondonia state on Sept. 15, 2019. (File photo: Reuters/Ricardo Moraes)

JBS vows to monitor whole cattle supply chain’s impact on Amazon

Packer plans to move against cattle 'laundering'

Sao Paulo | Reuters — JBS SA, the world’s top meatpacker, said Wednesday it plans to combat destruction in the Amazon by monitoring its entire supply chain for deforestation by 2025, as pressure mounts from environmentalists and investors. Brazilian meatpackers are facing increasing criticism that beef production is fueling deforestation in the Amazon, where cleared […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Quality features influence feeder cattle prices

Western Canadian yearling markets have traded in a sideways range over the past couple of weeks; major feedlot operators have been aggressive for 800-pound-plus feeders just off grass because these cattle are most efficient and therefore, most profitable. Grass yearlings were quoted steady to as much as $5 higher this past week. Backgrounded yearlings were […] Read more


CME October 2020 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hog futures gain on export optimism

CME cattle down ahead of USDA report

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures markets climbed on Tuesday on optimism over China’s continued purchases of U.S. grains, traders said. Exporters sold 266,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans to China and 264,000 tonnes to unknown destinations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported on Tuesday, marking the 13th consecutive business day of sales to […] Read more

There are a number of handling equipment manufacturers offering new features and improved designs.

Great information on improved cattle handling

Animal Health with Roy Lewis: Plenty of resources to help reduce stress on people and livestock

We’ve all come a long way in our cattle-handling ability with improved skills, improved methods, and equipment and facilities that have become more refined. Lots of resources have been put into better understanding of proper handling practices. One I suggest checking out is Merck’s Creating Connections website. It can help producers raise healthier cattle and […] Read more


Gerald Grand, a staff member at Agolin, a Swiss maker of feed additives based on botanical compounds, works on a mixture of components at Biere, Switzerland on Sept. 26, 2018. (Photo: Reuters/Denis Balibouse)

More food companies aim to wrangle cattle emissions

Nestle, Barry Callebaut trying out feed additives

Winnipeg | Reuters — Looking to improve milk production, California farmer John Verwey turned to a Swiss-made feed additive designed to make a cow more efficient while reducing methane emissions from cattle burps. The more a cow belches, the more it spends energy that could be used instead for milk production, Verwey reasoned. So two […] Read more

CME December 2020 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hog futures fall with other commodities

Traders watching Germany's swine fever findings

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. cattle and hog futures markets fell on Monday, following a broad-based commodity sell-off in the absence of any fresh bullish news, traders said. “It is just kind of risk-off trade,” said Matthew Wiegand, broker at FuturesOne. “Livestock was for the most part happy to follow along.” Chicago Mercantile Exchange October […] Read more