CropsUS corn up 20% but fuel and fertiliser costs rise faster, CoBank warns
CoBank says higher corn and soybean prices are not enough to cover diesel nearly 80% above last year and a record $40 billion US fertiliser bill for 2026.
Source
The Cattle Site
Reporting from this source, summarised, rewritten or translated and published under its name · 14 stories
Crops
LivestockBeef, pork and chicken each face a different margin squeeze in the US, CoBank says
CoBank's quarterly outlook finds US beef held back by scarce cattle, pork reliant on exports, chicken growing into price-sensitive demand, and the dairy herd at a 34-year high on beef-on-dairy calf returns.
LivestockFrance offers farmers €2bn in zero-interest loans after summer drought
The French government will pay the interest on up to €2 billion of farm loans for fodder, fertiliser and other inputs after record heatwaves and drought damaged crops and pastures, on top of €1.3 billion in emergency aid.
LivestockEU cattle slaughter forecast to fall in 2026 and 2027 as drought squeezes fodder
A USDA Foreign Agricultural Service report says EU cattle slaughter fell 3.851% in the first half of 2026, but summer heat and drought are expected to speed up culling before a further decline in 2027.
AgribusinessCanada's food manufacturers grow sales on prices, not volume, as tariffs squeeze margins
Farm Credit Canada says food and beverage manufacturing sales rose 4% to $88.1 billion in the first half of 2026, but real sales were flat and US trade restrictions and counter-tariffs are pressing on margins.
Livestock
Namibia halts livestock movement and trade after foot-and-mouth outbreak
The disease was found on a commercial farm in the Kharas Region, inside the country's internationally recognised FMD-free zone, bordering outbreak-hit South Africa.
Market ManagementBrazil's beef exports to China plunge 80% as Beijing's quota nears its limit
Shipments to China fell to 16,136 tonnes in August, and China's share of Brazil's beef exports dropped from 32.1% to 7.1%, Cepea and Secex data show.
LivestockUS reopens Santa Teresa port to Mexican cattle despite screwworm
The border crossing that handled about 43% of cattle imports will take 750 to 1,600 head a day under treatment rules, but experts say beef prices will not fall soon.
LivestockEU cattle herd shrank by 1.05 million head in 2025, a slower decline
A USDA Foreign Agricultural Service report says high milk and beef prices slowed the EU herd's contraction last year, but costs, regulation, succession gaps and disease keep up the long-term decline.
LivestockArgentina gets a 60-day window in China's beef market as Australia runs out of quota and Brazil cuts shipments
The Rosario exchange says export prices for shank and forequarter cuts to China have climbed to $7,700 a tonne from $5,400 a year ago, while Argentine cow slaughter is down 13 percent so far this year.
Market Management
EU farm-gate prices fall 5.8% for a third quarter as input costs rise 4.7%, Eurostat says
Milk was 16.6% cheaper and cereals 5.6% cheaper in the second quarter of 2026 than a year earlier, with output prices down in 20 member states, led by Denmark and Ireland, while energy rose 22% and fertiliser 13.4%, squeezing margins across the bloc.
Livestock
Russia declares lumpy skin disease quarantine 25 km from Moscow after outbreaks in Siberia
The Moscow regional government has banned movement of cattle, milk and feed in and out of affected towns and cancelled agricultural fairs; the Irkutsk region near Lake Baikal declared its own quarantine earlier in the week with culling ordered, months after a spring disease outbreak in Siberia led t
Market Management
CME Group takes over European dairy futures as EEX phases out butter and powder contracts
Under an agreement with the European Energy Exchange, CME will launch its own European dairy indices, futures and options and inherit the EEX butter and skimmed-milk-powder indices before the end of 2027, weeks before Euronext launches rival contracts on 19 October.