USDA Reports
Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University extension livestock marketing specialist, says USDA’s Cattle on Feed Report was friendly. The Cattle Inventory Report indicated confirms historically tight supplies will stay around for a while.
The department says it will relocate more than half of its Washington, D.C., staff to five hubs around the country, as well as consolidate or eliminate regional offices.
Scott Varilek, Kooima Kooima Varilek, says cattle futures are holding together despite lower cash trade, while grains are finally seeing a bounce in reaction to a China deal on rare earths.
Cattle inventory was 1% below the same date a year ago and in line with pre-report expectations, while placements were friendly coming in below estimates.
Brad Kooima of Kooima Kooima Varilek says cattle futures are seeing some early weakness despite last week’s record cash and neutral USDA Cattle on Feed Report compared to expectations. Corn is down with wheat and mostly favorable weather.
Dr. Derrell Peel, Extension livestock marketing specialist with Oklahoma State University, says the on feed number has been below year ago levels the last four months.
Scott Varilek, Kooima Kooima Varilek, says the slightly higher placements than expectations in the USDA Cattle on Feed Report are not a concern to him. He thinks cash is ultimately king!
With native cattle numbers still under pressure, beef-on-dairy crossbreds are providing the industry with a critical supply of cattle.
USDA’s annual Cattle Inventory Report released Friday shows the U.S. total cattle inventory shrunk another 1% over the past year, with the number of beef cows also down 1%.
Last year’s USDA Cattle Inventory Report showed the smallest cattle herd since 1951. With strong heifer prices and no strong signs of rebuilding underway, the Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor shows supplies may come in even lower than last year.
If the funding measure fails, USDA has a contingency plan in place for essential workers and services. The plan would retain a small number of administrative employees to oversee activities including disaster response and cybersecurity should funding lapse.
From increasing difficulty in accessing households due to new telephone technologies to concerns about data privacy and time constraints from farmers, the number of farmers participating in USDA surveys is on the decline.
Oklahoma State’s Derrell Peel points out with the U.S. beef cow herd the smallest since 1961 and the all cattle inventory the lowest since 1951, it’s setting the cattle market up for higher highs.
With larger-than-expected yield revisions to both corn and soybeans, it leaves one burning question: which states grew such big yields in 2023? USDA NASS released maps and charts to help answer that.
USDA released a few big surprises in the June acreage report, including a spike in corn acres and a large reduction in soybean acres. The agency also forecasts grain stocks below trade expectations.
USDA’s first official net farm income forecast shows an expected 16% drop in 2023 net farm income, largely due to a decline in commodity prices and government payments with higher expenses and costs at the farm level.
While Dale Durcholz does think there’s potential for a grain production number shift, he says the winter farmers and feed yards have faced is more likely to be the cause of a grain stocks shift lower.
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