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Market Talk Podcast and radio talk show bringing you daily market analysis and insights for grain, livestock and various commodity markets.

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The cattle market staged a positive correction Thursday, posting a solid jump and strong close. On this week’s Cattle Ch...
09/03/2026

The cattle market staged a positive correction Thursday, posting a solid jump and strong close. On this week’s Cattle Chatter, Brad Kooima with Kooima Kooima Varilek breaks down the nearly $7 jump in feeder cattle and how an overbought corn market helped give cattle some support.

Meanwhile, USDA headlines continue to create plenty of questions. An announcement on beef labeling is expected by the end of the week, while reports suggest Congress is considering a government loan program to help producers with herd retention.

That follows earlier talk of a heifer retention program, leaving many producers with more questions than answers about what these programs could ultimately mean for the cattle industry.

Brad also takes a closer look at the wholesale beef market, comparing this past Tuesday’s prices with the same period last year. The difference is striking—nearly 25%.

📈 Cattle bounced. Feeders jumped. Policy headlines are building.

So, is the cattle market finally starting to turn the corner?

🎙️ Brad Kooima breaks it all down on this week’s Cattle Chatter.

The cattle market staged a positive correction Thursday, posting a ...

Specialty buying, short covering and some bargain hunting are adding another layer to this week’s cattle trade. But the ...
08/27/2026

Specialty buying, short covering and some bargain hunting are adding another layer to this week’s cattle trade. But the big surprise came in the cash market, as the North blinked first while the South continues to hold out.

On this week’s Cattle Chatter, Brad Kooima with Kooima Kooima Varilek breaks down why it was so unusual to see Northern cattle trade ahead of the Southern market and what that could mean for cattle producers.

Brad also looks at plant closures, including Joslin, and how changes in processing capacity can work their way back into the cash cattle market. We also take a look at the border reopening this week, comparing cattle and futures prices from May 11, 2025, with where the market stands this week.

And with Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins announcing that officials are looking at Nogales as another potential crossing point, the border story continues to be one cattle producers are watching closely.

👉 What does all of this mean for cash cattle and the leverage of the cattleman? Tune in to this week’s Cattle Chatter!

Specialty buying, short covering and some bargain hunting are addin...

A rough Friday in the cattle markets after President Trump's announcement that up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ...
08/21/2026

A rough Friday in the cattle markets after President Trump's announcement that up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef will be allowed in tariff-free over the next 90 days.

Scott Varilek with Kooima Kooima Varilek Trading in Sioux Center, Iowa joined Market Talk to unpack what it means for packer bidding, northern cash negotiated cattle, and the long-term charts that traders have been leaning on since 2020.

He also has a read on the grain side, where December corn is testing resistance near $5.06 and the funds have been building length behind a disappointing crop tour.

Scott Varilek of Kooima Kooima Varilek Trading in Sioux Center, Iow...

Are we not killing enough cattle—and are producers starting to lose their leverage?On this week’s Cattle Chatter, Brad K...
08/20/2026

Are we not killing enough cattle—and are producers starting to lose their leverage?

On this week’s Cattle Chatter, Brad Kooima with Kooima Kooima Varilek breaks down a cattle market full of moving pieces. Tyson plants are going offline, Ft. Morgan is coming back online, and boxed beef is showing some movement.

Meanwhile, the charts have been a wreck, the cash market is trying to firm, and Kansas has now joined Colorado and Texas in going “confidential” on USDA cash cattle reporting, citing thin trading volume.

So, with all these pieces moving at once, what would make Brad feel good about this cattle market?

👉 You’ll have to watch all the way to the end to find out! 🐄📈

Are we not killing enough cattle—and are producers starting to lose...

Is the corn market setting up for a repeat of 2022? Mike Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics joined us Wednesday to tal...
08/19/2026

Is the corn market setting up for a repeat of 2022? Mike Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics joined us Wednesday to talk through a near-total collapse in Black Sea grain shipping, surprising soybean pod count data out of the crop tour, and why Paris corn futures might be the chart every U.S. farmer should be watching right now. He also breaks down what the Tyson plant closures are doing to cash cattle prices.

Mike Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics joins Market Talk to brea...

Compared with the past couple of weeks, cattle slaughter numbers have been lower, raising questions about how quickly th...
08/13/2026

Compared with the past couple of weeks, cattle slaughter numbers have been lower, raising questions about how quickly the market can work through available supplies. On this week's Cattle Chatter, brought to you by Zoetis, Brad Kooima with Kooima Kooima Varilek breaks down the latest slaughter numbers while looking at the impact of extreme heat, dry pastures and an uptick in video cattle sales.

Was last week's cash cattle trade actually cattle purchased for deferred delivery? Open interest has also posted more down days, adding another layer of uncertainty to the market.

As Labor Day approaches, the focus turns to beef demand and boxed beef movement. How does the market get the boxes turned, and what will it take to keep product moving as we look beyond the holiday and into the fall?

Compared with the past couple of weeks, cattle slaughter numbers ha...

"There's a really good corn crop coming, not a really, really good corn crop coming."That is how Bryan Doherty of Total ...
08/13/2026

"There's a really good corn crop coming, not a really, really good corn crop coming."

That is how Bryan Doherty of Total Farm Marketing summed up the August WASDE on today's Market Talk. USDA put the national corn yield at 180.7 bushels, under trade expectations, with Iowa still projected at 216 while the Dakotas, Nebraska and Kansas took visible cuts.

Here is the part worth circling: carryout narrowed on both old crop and new crop, and stocks-to-use is now sitting near 10.1 percent. That is the tightest in four years. We lost roughly a billion bushels off last year's crop and we are on pace to use all of it anyway.

Bryan also walks through bull call spreads and bear put spreads in our ongoing options series, then gets into why managed money flipped on cattle and what is really happening in dairy.

Corn carryout is narrowing on both old crop and new crop and the re...

Yields down, acres up, and a corn carryout cut to 1.653 billion bushels. Mike Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics joine...
08/12/2026

Yields down, acres up, and a corn carryout cut to 1.653 billion bushels. Mike Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics joined Market Talk to walk through the August WASDE, and he had called the corn yield within three tenths of a bushel.

He explains the USDA modeling change that got everyone closer to the same page, why Illinois and the western Corn Belt did the damage, and why he thinks beans can still add bushels while corn probably cannot. Plus the Black Sea rumor that pulled risk premium out of wheat on Tuesday, and USDA's 2.7% cut to third quarter beef production.

Mike Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics joins Jesse Allen on Mark...

Grains rebounded to close out the week, led by wheat. Mike Castle, senior commodities economist at StoneX, joins Market ...
08/07/2026

Grains rebounded to close out the week, led by wheat. Mike Castle, senior commodities economist at StoneX, joins Market Talk to explain why the Black Sea conflict keeps pushing wheat higher, why a huge week of soybean flash sales to China matters more than the headline number suggests, and why the fertilizer market may be facing its longest-running risk yet from the Strait of Hormuz disruption.

Mike Castle, senior commodities economist at StoneX, joins Market T...

Cattle markets found some late-week stability, but is it built to last? Scott Varilek of Kooima Kooima Varilek joins Mar...
08/07/2026

Cattle markets found some late-week stability, but is it built to last? Scott Varilek of Kooima Kooima Varilek joins Market Talk to talk through packer interest near $235-236, early signs that heifer retention is finally underway, and why he thinks packers will reassert leverage once they get the chance. He also previews what could be a surprising August WASDE report.

Scott Varilek of Kooima Kooima Varilek joins Friday's show to break...

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