Livestock cost of gain is an issue that seemingly is not going away and has heightened the interest in tomorrow’s WASDE report. At current carcass weights, a dollar increase in corn price means about $10 per head for hogs, and for cattle means that cattle will be held back on grass for heavier feedlot placements, but feeding costs are still increasing. The chart below is from Kansas State University’s Focus on Feedlots newsletter showing placement weights and cost of gain for steers projected for current month placements, with WPI’s estimate for March 2021 given current trends.
Though heavier weight cattle will be sought by feeders, they’re likely to be picky about overly fleshy cattle that won’...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
