• This week in the markets – Cash cattle are down nearly $3 this week and feeder cattle markets are steady to $3 lower. February 2021 live cattle futures are down $0.60 for the week and January feeder cattle were steady on the week. The Choice/Box beef price dropped nearly $20 this week, on weakness across the board. The Choice box beef price is now $1 above year-ago levels with the recent weakness we have experienced. Cash barrow and gilts are $1.0 lower this week. The February 2021 lean hog futures contract closed down $0.85 this week. The pork cutout value is steady this week, as higher ham prices offset lower belly prices.   
• Slaughter – Cattle slaughter for the week is estimated at 665,000 head, which’s down 0.3% from the previous week. Hog slaughter is estimated at 2.776 million head, which’s unchanged from both the week-ago and year-ago levels. Year-to-date hog slaughter is 0.7% above year-ago levels.
• Monthly Trade – October pork exports totaled 589.1 million pounds, up nearly 68 million pounds from year-ago levels. Year to date pork exports total 6 billion pounds which are up nearly one billion pounds over year-ago levels due in large part to the 1.1 billion pound increase in pork exports to China. October US beef exports totaled 258.3 million pounds, up 10 million pounds from year-ago levels. Strength in beef exports to China was the primary driver for the higher export level. Year to date beef exports still trail year-ago levels by 134 million pounds.  
• Retail Prices – The November choice beef retail price was $6.34 per pound down slightly from the October level. The beef retail price is 16% below the June 2020 level. The retail pork price for November was $4.10 per pound, up $0.02 per pound from October.
• Consumer Sentiment – The December index of consumer sentiment showed strong growth registering a nearly 6% increase relative to November. Both the current situation index and the index of consumer expectations rose nearly 6%. This report was somewhat surprising given the recent surge in COVID-19.
• Next week’s reports – Cattle on Feed 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

CommonGround volunteer and Minnesota farmer Lauren Biegler discusses the organization's mission. CommonGround volunteers share personal experiences, as well as science and research, to help consumers sort through the myths and misinformation surrounding food.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

New technologies help farmers improve yield and provide better weed control.

In this Managing for Profit, Jennifer Ralston Global Soybean Seeds & Trait Portfolio Manager with Bayer CropScience talks about how new traits are launched to meet farmers’ needs.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

COUNTRY Financial crop agency manager Doug Yoder says crop coverage plays a vital role in farmers’ risk management. “When those unforeseen events show up,” Yoder tells Brownfield Ag News, “they’re significant enough, in today’s economy, they can put you out of business if you don’t have this protection.” Crop insurance, says Yoder, is the corner stone of farmers’ risk management tools.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Every decision about investing Checkoff dollars into beef promotion, research, education, information, and foreign-market development is directly tied to long-range planning.

Glen Waters from Stet, near Norborne, Missouri, is wrapping up fulfillment of his third three-year team as an elected beef producer on the Missouri Beef Industry Council. Waters joins us on this episode of Driving Demand, a content partnership with the Missouri Beef Industry Council to highlight some of the successes he has seen in the most recent national plan as well as in the Missouri plan. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

• This week in the markets – Cash cattle were down $.40, feeder cattle were steady to $5 lower. February live cattle futures were down $.60 and January feeder cattle were about steady. March corn futures were down nearly $.13 lower this week. Choice Box Beef was down $2.50. Hogs were about steady for the week. February lean hog futures were down $.85. Pork cutout values ended the week $.25 higher on strong hams and bellies. 
• Weekly slaughter – Cattle slaughter was 660,000 head, up 103,000 from a week ago, but down 15,000 from year-ago levels. Hog slaughter was 2.789 million head, an increase of 439,000 from last week’s shortened holiday week, but down 15,000 head on the year. 
• Restaurant Performance Index – October came in at 98.3, up 0.2 relative to September. The Current Situation Index fell in October by 0.4, yet expectation grew by 0.7. 
• Jobs Report – Jobs report came in at 245,000 jobs in November, that’s about half of pre-report expectations. 
• Farm Income – USDA expects 2020 Farm Income to be at the highest level since 2013. That growth is driven in large part by nearly $47-billion in government payments. The overall farm income estimate is not shared equally among producers in the US.
• Next week’s reports – Monthly Trade Data, WASDE, and Consumer Sentiment

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

COUNTRY Financial crop insurance will be covering the state’s two biggest export commodities, corn and soybeans, this coming season, but there are many other commodities that are covered and many different types of coverage. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Consistent disease control, improved plant health, and higher yield potential are just some of the benefits of using a fungicide. 

In this Managing for Profit, Ray Lello, Bayer’s Corn and Soybean Fungicide product manager talks about the benefits farmers can experience by utilizing Delaro Complete fungicide on their farm.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted how consumers get their food. Paul Dietmann, senior lending specialist on the Compeer Financial diversified markets team, says in some ways the pandemic has benefited the direct to consumer ag space. But he points out, the producers who have capitalized had to be proactive and in a lot of cases, collaborative.

This episode was released December 1, 2020. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner is one of America’s most iconic food brands. 

When the Check-off funded brand launched in 1992, radio and television ads featured celebrity voiceovers and Aaron Copland music. The brand is still around and still driving demand for beef.

Season Solorio, Senior Executive Director of Brand Marketing at NCBA, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff joins us on this episode of Driving Demand, a content partnership with the Missouri Beef Industry Council.  

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.