Tomorrow USDA will release the monthly Cattle on Feed report. Analysts’ pre-report estimates peg the total number of cattle on feed as of 1 October at 99 percent of a year ago. The range of estimates was between 98 and 100 percent. The implied inventory of cattle on feed would be 11.6 million head.
Placements in September are forecast at 101 percent of last year. The range of estimates was wide, from 98 percent to 104 percent and showed differing opinions – i.e., both an increase and a decrease over October 2020. If placements are up, that would be the second consecutive month of increased placements year over year, even after the July cattle inventory report (which we covered here) showed the total number of calv...
The corn and soy complex closed higher, with the wheat market mixed, as winter wheat closed up but spring wheat and livestock ended lower. Part of the strength for corn and soybeans may have been a weather premium, as crop planting has started out fast but warm weather has been slow to develop...
Real GDP grew at a 2 percent annual rate in the first quarter of 2026, slightly below the consensus expectation of 2.3 percent but above the 0.5 percent growth in Q4 2025. The GDP number matches the average annualized pace of growth since the peak back in late 2007, right before the Financial P...
Reflect for a moment on what you eat. There is a lot of advice out there in the ether about what you should eat, but really, what do you currently eat and how much? The good people at the USDA have some data for you, to help you answer that question. USDA says that we eat quite a bit of meat. L...