The USDA’s latest Cattle on Feed report is extremely bearish, with both On Feed totals and Cattle Placed well outside the top-end of pre-report expectations. University of Missouri’s Scott Brown says that could lead to a very interesting last half of the year. “Drought has certainly made us want to place cattle in feedyards earlier than normal,” he says. “It makes me wonder, are we going to run out of […]
A cattle producer in southwest Iowa is struggling to find help. Seth Watkins of Clarinda says finding people who want to work in agriculture isn’t easy right now. “Finding help for anyone isn’t easy, so that’s on the top of my mind.” He tells Brownfield he’s doing everything he can. “Right now the biggest is just constantly communicating (to find) people who maybe have a job in town but like […]
The second day of the Missouri FFA Convention took place Friday in Columbia. Day two of the Missouri FFA Convention kicked off with a trade show where FFA students are getting the chance to explore career opportunities. St. James FFA student Elijah Barnett, who was attending the career fair, tells Brownfield his FFA chapter has grown his interest in pursing veterinarian medicine… “It taught me different breeds of animals; different […]
A mid-Michigan farmer says this year has been ideal for maple syrup production. Sarah Zastrow tells Brownfield the season started in late February. “Because there was such fluctuation in the temperature, you get a lot of sap in those years,” she says. “When it’s freeze and thaw, freeze and thaw—that’s when maple syrup really thrives, and it gives it a really good flavor.” Zastrow says adding maple syrup production has […]
The USDA is awarding nearly $800 million in projects to support climate-smart infrastructure. Secretary Vilsack made the announcement as part of Earth Day, saying the grants are part of the many ways the agency is addressing climate change, bringing safe water and renewable energy to people in rural areas. A breakdown of the funded projects can be found here. ...
May corn closed at $7.93, down 6 and 1/4 centsMay soybeans closed at $17.16, down 32 and 1/4 centsMay soybean meal closed at $458.80, down $10.10May soybean oil closed at $83.26, up 176 pointsMay wheat closed at $10.65 and 1/2, down 2 and 1/2 centsApr. live cattle closed at $142.45, down $1.65June lean hogs closed at $118.77, up $1.60May Class III milk closed at $24.55, down 2 centsJun. ...
Beef in cold storage ended March at record levels. The USDA says beef stocks were 536.887 million pounds, up 11% on the year due to record monthly production and slower demand, at least partially because of high prices. That included an all-time monthly high for boneless beef. Pork came out at 487.19 million pounds, a jump of 8%, despite a year-to-year decline in production. Total red meat supplies were 1.051 […]
Soybeans were sharply lower on profit taking and technical selling, still finishing higher for the week, with nearby months outgaining deferred contracts. Soybean followed bean meal, taking profits, even as bean oil was mostly higher on Indonesia’s decision to ban palm oil exports starting April 28th. That ban comes in the face of tight global vegetable oil supplies, exacerbated by the lack of sunflower oil exports from Ukraine. Ukraine’s Ministry […]
The USDA says there were 1.99 million cattle placed into U.S. feedlots during March, down slightly on the year. However, that’s more than what most analysts were expecting heading into the report, despite high feed costs and drought conditions in some of the major U.S. feeding areas. More than a million head of those placements weighed between 700 and 900 pounds, heading to market this summer or early fall. Marketings […]
