While some producers have already taken advantage of record high prices by selling their calves for forward delivery, the majority of the 2023 calf crop will be marketed over the next two months. Record high prices can be a deterrent for retaining ownership. But the decision to background calves needs to take into account feed availability, cost of gain (feed, yardage, veterinary and medicine, interest, death loss, and marketing costs), and projected feeder prices...

USDA released its September 1st cattle on feed report this afternoon for feedlots with over 1,000+ bunk capacity and it should be viewed as neutral as August placements and marketings were in line with expectations. Cattle on feed inventories increased 64,000 head from August to September. September 1st cattle on feed inventories totaled 11.1 million head, 2% below last year. For the month of September this is the smallest on feed inventory since 2019. Packer margins were negative for the better part of August resulting in lighter harvest rates. Survey fed cattle marketings were 6% lower than last year...

Earlier this year, we were still in the grip of La Niña, but from April through August, we saw a transition toward El Niño. El Niño began to develop in the spring, but it took until late summer to have a more powerful grip on the atmosphere, and that grip is getting tighter this fall and winter. There are multiple ways of measuring how strong the grip is, whether that be in the atmosphere, ocean, or a combination of those two...