Sort & Cull

It's hard for the complex to do much trading when every sector of the market is thinly traded during the holidays.

The recent rally that the market has experienced has been a blessing, but now cattlemen hope the market can be defensive during the new two weeks and hopefully protect the market from losing too much of its recent rally while the market breaks for the holidays.

From the tremendous lineup of speakers that the day holds, to the insightful one-on-one conversations that help share awareness of the different strategies that various operations use, there's not a minute to spare and we all have so much to learn.

Corn prices, processing speeds and beef demand will weigh heavily on the success of this market's rally, but as the market sits today, the bull spreaders aren't fearful of the days ahead and anxiously welcome the new year's approach.

These days, it's almost costly to not keep an eye on the horizon and try to be one step ahead of anything that's to come. But in doing so, cattlemen have at times overlooked the importance of the cash cattle market which negatively serves all involved.

The recent announcement that sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease has been detected in two humans in Brazil has now led to conversations on whether the U.S. should continue to allow fresh beef imports from Brazil.

Over time, it's not a matter of what's factual or true, what an asset is truly worth or what's it's perceived to be worth, but it's what we feed ourselves mentally that eventually becomes true. And that's why last week's success of trading cash cattle for $130 is such a...

What we may breeze over if not careful is the fact that last week's weighted average of $126.29 posts as a new high for cash cattle trade this year, and that the last time the market successfully traded fat cattle for an average of $125 was back in April of 2019.

DTN's weekly technical analysis of the livestock markets shows feeder cattle generally seem to be making a more concerted effort to the downside.

Every now and then, events cause traders to lose a sense of value. This fall, that has happened in soybean meal.

The Foreign Adversary Risk Management (FARM) Act would include the Secretary of Agriculture on the special government committee that approves foreign investment and ownership of businesses for national security. Issues with CFIUS have come up in the past as lawmakers have...

USDA highlighted a few deadlines for pandemic aid. The department extended the enrollment period for the Pandemic Livestock Indemnity Program, which pays producers for having to depopulate their herds in 2020 because of processing-capacity challenges.

U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack spoke to the White House press corps last week about some of the actions USDA is doing to invest funds into smaller packing plants and address antitrust enforcement in the packing industry. He also talked about the need for legislation to make...

Hogs that will hit the market right when California's Prop 12 goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2022, were already born back in February and are just now being placed in finishing barns. Without clarity about how the state's law will affect the nation's supply chain, producers haven't...

A technical look at weekly charts of live cattle, feeder cattle, lean hogs.

Whether or not the market will actually see advancement remains unknown as packers have figured out another way to avoid supporting the cash cattle market and allowing feedlots to chase true price discovery.

With packers sitting on supplies for at least a month out, someone must ask "when will packers need cattle?" and "when will the cash cattle market be able to demand higher prices again?"

On a typical holiday week, such as during the week of Christmas or Thanksgiving, the market doesn't expect to see many cattle trade. But on a usual week, the market fully anticipates seeing anywhere from 70,000 to 120,000 head of cash cattle trade. Last week's movement only...

The market hasn't only deteriorated in the sense that prices are lower for cow-calf producers and feedlots, but also in the sense that the market is losing its voice, its leverage and has even questioned its own trajectory.

While I'm thankful last week's cyberattack was quickly dealt with, I'm also here to tell you that the cost of wasted time and missed opportunities is high.