Today’s trading was mostly lower based on South American weather and the ever-present tariff threat. Overall, the first week in February 2025 experienced the following:
It was the fourth week in a row higher for SRW, and the third week up for HRW and HRS. It was the second week in a row for otherwise bullish cattle to lose value, and hogs were the beneficiary with a second week higher. HRW was the outsized gainer, and feeder cattle the biggest loser. Soymeal was the most volatile, rising over 4 percent, then falling 4 percent to end up almost unchanged.
The South American weather outlook is not great, but it is better and that put another damper on Chicago. Showers are lightening up, allowing more windows for soyb...
USDA’s monthly cattle on feed report for 1 May will be released tomorrow. Analysts’ pre-report consensus estimates are for the total inventory on feed to be 101.4 percent of last year. Those estimates imply an on-feed inventory of 11.535 million head. This is the first year-over-yea...
What You Need to Know Today: Chinese officials indicated that China and the U.S. have agreed to cut 10 percent tariffs on imports. Chinese officials confirmed that a “guiding target” has been set for purchases of U.S. agricultural goods, but fell short of confirming that the U.S. r...
Free Trade to State Direction Conceptually, American farmers are huge winners under a free trade policy promising fair and equitable terms. As critics of President Trump’s trade wars will be quick to point out, “U.S. farmers have been some of the biggest beneficiaries of U.S...