CME June 2020 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle ease with equities

Chicago lean hogs rise

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures weakened with equities on Tuesday, while hog futures advanced. Moves in the cattle market have nearly mirrored those in equities since last week, traders said, with the global spread of the new coronavirus fueling sharp moves. All three major U.S. stock market indexes dropped more […] Read more

CME April 2020 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle rise in recovery from contract lows

Hogs close mixed as China uncertainty looms

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures on Monday recovered from contract lows reached last week as concerns temporarily eased about the economic impact from the global coronavirus outbreak. Equity markets also rose on speculation that central banks will cut interest rates to soften the economic blow of the epidemic. “The market […] Read more


CME June 2020 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle sink to new lows

COVID-19 continues to spook investors

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures ended mostly lower on Thursday, with several key contracts notching new contract lows on nagging worries about the spread of coronavirus and its impact on global economic growth and demand for beef. Commodity funds, which had recently built up a sizable net long position in live […] Read more

CME April 2020 live cattle with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle sink on fund selling

Commodities funds take risk-off stance due to COVID-19

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures fell sharply in actively traded nearby contracts on Wednesday as concerns about the spread of coronavirus and its impact on demand triggered active selling by commodities funds. Slumping cash market prices further fueled the slide, with the benchmark April contract sinking to its lowest point […] Read more


CME April 2020 feeder cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle extend losses

COVID-19 coronavirus continues to rattle investors

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live and feeder cattle futures fell sharply for a second consecutive day on Tuesday as fears of a coronavirus pandemic stoked concerns about demand and slower global economic growth. Commodities funds liquidated more of their sizable long holdings in cattle after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Cattle inventories continue to decline, StatsCan says

Canada's hog herd also down on year

MarketsFarm — Canada’s cattle herd in 2019 continued on its generally consistent path of declining numbers, according to new data Statistics Canada released Tuesday. Aside from a few slight increases in 2012, 2013 and 2018, Canadian cattle inventories have moved lower since 2005. At 11.2 million head, the reported number of cattle on farms in […] Read more


CME April 2020 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hogs dive as coronavirus rattles markets

April live cattle, most feeder contracts close limit-down

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle and hog futures plunged on Monday as a surge of coronavirus cases beyond China stoked fears of U.S. meat export delays and slower global economic growth. The actively-traded April live cattle contract and nearly all feeder cattle contracts closed down by their daily trading limits, triggering expanded […] Read more

CME March 2020 feeder cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME hog futures firm

Cattle contracts ease

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures ended higher on Friday on a mild technical bounce while cattle contracts weakened. Feeder cattle contracts were under pressure from profit-taking following six straight days of gains that pushed the front-month contract to its highest since Jan. 30. CME lean hog futures for April delivery ended […] Read more