USDA to end reporting

[westernvicki]

NCBA Urges USDA to Reverse Decision to End Reporting of Critical Cattle Industry Data
| APRIL 9, 2024
WASHINGTON (April 9, 2024) – Today, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) criticized the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Services’ (USDA-NASS) decision to cancel the July Cattle Report and discontinue the County Estimates for Crops and Livestock, among other changes. These reports provide critical data and the decision to end them is completely misguided.
“It is disingenuous for the same agency which touts its commitment to transparency in livestock markets to arbitrarily cease publication of reports which provide just that. While it may be politically expedient to blame appropriators in Congress for today’s decision, cattle producers know better than to believe discontinuing a handful of reports will result in substantive cost savings for the Department,” said NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane. “NCBA calls on USDA-NASS to immediately reverse this decision and continue delivering on its stated mission of providing timely, accurate, and useful statistics in service to U.S. agriculture.”
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[westernvicki]

At least the Cattle folk said something.

[errolanderson]

The cattle board is now shifting into a lower gear on the 1st day of spring 2026.

The key reason (IMO) is the fallout in the stock market. Private credit stateside is a mess. This is a hangover from the 2008 financial crisis.

Where stocks go, cattle go . . . . But also, there is a backup of cattle stateside with record carcass weights. How long the wholesale beef price will hold up, unknown. But the clock is definitely ticking . . . .

Have been recommending a steady dose of price risk protection to cattle feeders exposed. My favorite strategy has been the use of feeder cattle put option bear spreads to protect the downside.

The cattle board is now chartered by a series of falling tops. The last rebound peaks lower.

If anyone needs price protection ideas, go to errolanderson.substack.com. Have been highlighting charts, where buyers and sellers are located and strategy ideas.

Errol’s Commodity Wire, Calgary. [email]errol.calgary@gmail.com[/email]

[errolanderson]

Noticeable drop in feeder cattle at recent auctions. Also, a pullback in beef cutout prices.

For feeders wanting longterm price protection, an August $344 / $330 put option bear spread may trade around $4.50/cwt. Should Aug Feeders expire below $330/cwt, max value of this spread would be $14/cwt. There is no risk of margin call and this position has 154 days to expiry as of March 26th.

Also, the Cdn dollar may be becoming oversold. Hedgers, keep an eye on CAD call option IE: June Major chart support appears approaching 72.25 cents U.S.

Anyone that wants to talk markets or open a commodity trading acct, give me a call / text at (403) 466-8220 (tel403)%20466-8220) Calgary