Michelle Rook

National Reporter

Michelle Rook is a national agricultural reporter and market analyst for Farm Journal’s AgDay and U.S. Farm Report, and she is the host of Markets Now. With expertise in commodity markets, grain trading, and agricultural journalism, she delivers daily market updates and analysis to farmers nationwide. She earned the NAFB Farm Broadcaster of the Year award and the prestigious Doan Excellence in Reporting Award.

Latest Stories

Markets

Cattle See Muted Rally to Report, Cash: Grains Fall on Brazil Election, USDA Report Error

Joe Kooima of Kooima Kooima Varilek says the reaction was a bit muted considering the placements were well below estimates. However, he says some of it was already priced in.

October 26, 2026 10:48 AM

Michelle Rook

News

Cattle on Feed Report Delivers Bullish Surprise as September Placements Drop 12%

Placements plunged 12.1% in September to a series record low, signaling an intensifying fed cattle supply hole for early next year.

October 23, 2026 05:55 PM

Angie Stump Denton

Markets

Cattle Await USDA Packer News, Cash, COF: Corn Falls, Soybeans Bounce

Scott Varilek with Kooima Kooima Varilek says the live cattle were overbought after rallying $21 off the lows.

October 23, 2026 10:36 AM

Michelle Rook

News

USDA Pools Five Feeding States to Break Fed Cattle Data Blackout

New aggregated report covering five states launches Oct. 26 to circumvent confidentiality filters, but analysts warn structural price-discovery challenges persist.

October 21, 2026 12:51 PM

Angie Stump Denton

Markets

Cattle Break to 3 Month Highs as USDA Offers New Cash Report: Will it Help or Hurt?

Brad Kooima with Kooima Kooima Varilek says the charts look positive but he thinks a healthy correction is in store. He’s also skeptical about USDA’s new cash report.

October 21, 2026 11:03 AM

Michelle Rook

Markets

Cattle Rally on Cash Hopes But Are Fresh Highs in the Cards? Corn, Soybeans Break Support

Joe Kooima of Kooima Kooima Varilek cattle futures have done a lot of heavy lifting the last three to four weeks with the stubborn cash market.

October 16, 2026 10:59 AM

Michelle Rook

Markets

Cattle Cattle Sustain Last Week’s Technical Breakout?

Brad Kooima of Kooima Kooima Varilek says last week’s technical breakout in cattle was a surprise to him due to the current fundamentals.

October 13, 2026 06:03 PM

Michelle Rook

Markets

Cattle Fall with Technicals, Lower Beef: Hogs and Grains Bounce

Last week the live and feeder cattle futures technically looked promising says Joe Kooima of Kooima Kooima Varilek, but then the market posted lower weekly closes.

October 05, 2026 10:34 AM

Michelle Rook

Markets

Cattle See Profit Taking After Fresh Highs, Plunging Beef

Cattle futures ran into chart resistance after new highs for the move on Thursday and on live cattle the market tested the long term trend line.

October 02, 2026 10:59 AM

Michelle Rook

Markets

Cattle Rally on Technical Buying, Strong Beef But Into Resistance: Can Hogs Bottom?

Kyle Bumsted of Allendale says the market is seeing technical buying and is right up into chart resistance.

September 30, 2026 10:48 AM

Michelle Rook