Jul. corn closed at $4.20 and 1/2, up 3 centsJul. soybeans closed at $10.24 and 1/4, down 3 and 1/2 centsJul. soybean meal closed at $271.30, up 20 centsJul. soybean oil closed at 52.51, up 6 pointsJul. wheat closed at $5.28 and 3/4, up 4 centsAug. live cattle closed at...

Direct cash cattle trade activity is quiet, as buyers and sellers are busy preparing for the week ahead.  Bids and asking prices have yet to surface.  Significant trade volume will likely develop earlier than normal with the holiday-shortened week. Deals last week ranged from $222 to $227 live in the...

The Indiana State Board of Animal Health says cattle producers across the state need to be proactive against the increasing threat of the Asian Longhorned Tick. Dr. Eric Renshaw with BOAH says the tick is a serious health risk to livestock and has been found in six counties across the...

A south-central Iowa farmer says the amount of rain his farm received this week was a pleasant surprise. Steve Kuiper raises corn and soybeans in Marion County. He tells Brownfield some parts of the county had more than four inches of rain through Tuesday morning. “We’ve got enough growth out...

The USDA releases its Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report later today. University of Kentucky livestock economist Kenny Burdine says production efficiency continues to be the story for the U.S. hog industry. “We’re adding probably a percent and 1/2 or so to pork production every year just based on productivity,” he...

The director of commodity programs and food systems with the Illinois Farm Bureau says a re-introduced federal proposal would make it easier for farmers and ranchers to control federally protected black vultures. Tasha Bunting tells Brownfield the birds are predators that tend to target young livestock. “What we are seeing...

A livestock economist says the slowdown in beef cow slaughter could be a sign that herd liquidation is coming to an end. University of Kentucky’s Kenny Burdine says that through May, beef cow slaughter has declined 18 percent from this time last year.  “We probably came into 2024 and 2025...

Across the Corn Belt, hot, humid weather from the middle Mississippi Valley eastward is maintaining stress on livestock.  However, above-normal temperatures also favor a rapid pace of corn and soybean development.  On June 22, Iowa led the Midwest with 13% of its soybean crop blooming, well ahead of the 5-year...