Dry spells don’t hit Montana evenly. One week the Hi-Line is watching wheat and range grass stall out, while parts of the Gallatin Valley catch a timely shower. The next week it flips. That patchwork is exactly why drought tracking matters: the better the on-the-ground reports, the better the picture for producers, lenders, insurers, and […]
Midday reports indicate the cash cattle market was mostly a waiting game, with very light trade and buyers and sellers still feeling each other out. After a small round of business late in the week, bids reportedly showed back up around $246 live in the South and about $385 dressed in the North—levels described as […]
Grain and livestock futures finished mixed on Tuesday, March 24, with cattle contracts generally higher while soybeans and soybean meal weakened. Reports indicate May corn settled around $4.62 1/2 (up about 3 cents), May soybeans near $11.55 (down about 8 1/2 cents), and Chicago wheat around $5.90 (up roughly 2 1/4 cents). On the livestock […]
New USDA cattle numbers are giving the market something to chew on heading into spring. Reports indicate February feedlot placements were higher than a year ago, while marketings were lower. On paper, that combination can hint at more cattle moving into the feeding pipeline and fewer leaving it—at least for the month. For Montana, the […]
USDA export reporting is easy to ignore when you’re calving in the Bitterroot or hauling hay in the Yellowstone Valley, but it can still show up in Montana checkbooks. Reports this week indicate a buyer listed as “unknown” booked a shipment of U.S. soymeal for the 2026-27 marketing year, which begins Oct. 1, 2026. The […]
Grain and oil markets don’t feel like “Montana weather,” but they can move ranch and farm budgets just as fast as a dry May wind. Reports from national market watchers indicate corn and soybeans drifted lower overnight alongside crude oil, a reminder that energy markets still set the tone for a lot of ag commodities. […]
Reports from national market outlets indicate soybeans traded higher overnight alongside a sharp move up in crude oil. Montana producers don’t raise many soybeans compared to the Midwest, but the ripple effects can still show up here—through diesel, fertilizer, trucking, and feed ingredient costs. One overnight session doesn’t make a season. But when energy and […]