"Cattle feeding has mostly become a game of small margins on economies of scale mired in risk management that many times offers more opportunities than the cash position itself," say analysts with the Agricultural Marketing Service. "Most feedlots refuse to operate with empty pens, and their desire to maintain inventories causes an accumulation of feeder cattle that have unrealistic breakevens."...More

The Choice-Select spread that took a drubbing during the Great Recession has come back in spades. After trudging along in the single digits for what seemed like forever, it began climbing in August and has averaged around $18 in recent weeks; it was $19.19 last Friday....More

Nov. 29-Dec. 1 – Range Beef Cow Symposium, Scotts Bluff County Fairgrounds, Mitchell, NE; 308-632-1230 or kjenkins2@unl.edu.Dec. 1 – Alabama Forage & Grassland Conference, Lake Guntersville State Park, Guntersville; 334-887-4564 or ......More

U.S. meat and poultry production is headed for what researchers at the Rabobank International Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory (FAR) team anticipate to be a "precipitous fall" by mid-2012. Beef and broiler supplies are all expected to tighten as production increasingly lags behind GDP growth....More

Whether you're looking to buy or sell corn or milo stalks this year, Bruce Anderson, University of Nebraska Extension forage specialist, says the sale price should be based on the value of field nutrients being sacrificed....More