USDA released the monthly Cattle on Feed report today; the total inventory of cattle on feed in feedlots of 1,000 head or more capacity was 11.6 million head. Following is a summary and breakdown of today’s report.
Placements, once again, surprised to the upside, at 106 percent of last year, higher than the largest analyst’s pre-report guess, which was 104.8 percent of last September. Another key telling point looking out to 2024 is that among the larger inventory on feed was a one percent increase in heifers versus last year. That’s a signal that herd liquidation has not hit a reversal point. Live cattle and feeder cattle contracts were down across the board. These are not normal times, however, and futur...
What You Need to Know Today: The hot, dry weather forecast continues to drive strength in grain futures with corn and soybeans hitting another day of strong gains. Monday’s Crop Progress and Conditions data were in line with market expectations and showed relatively few concerns for the...
Yesterday we wrote about the Q1 GDP numbers and the June employment reports in an article entitled Real GDP for Q1 Relying on AI Buildout, Held Back by Consumer Spending. That article mentioned that consumer spending had become a drag on GDP. Nonetheless, real GDP in Q1 was revised upward to 2...
Key Takeaways: The Middle East and North Africa's arid climate and limited water resources have created a structural dependence on imported wheat. Government wheat tenders in major importing countries serve as important benchmarks for global trade, providing insight into exporter competitivene...
