Burnin’ Daylight

Hormuz opened, oil crashed, then Iran slammed the door shut again and the U.S. Navy shot a hole in an Iranian cargo ship for good measure — all while the latest Cattle on Feed report quietly confirmed the bull story for cattle. In this episode of the Friggin’ Farm & Ranch Report, we walk through a “cautiously bullish, elevated risk” market: COF placements down 7.67% year over year, on feed down 0.53%, but futures and feeders still selling off for a third straight session. We hit cash cattle at 248 live and 388 dressed, feeders getting hammered with the CME Index back to 377.67, and boxed beef demand strong enough to collapse the Choice/Select spread to 54 cents. Then we swing through corn under the 4.50 pain line, an 11.45% faceplant in WTI on Friday, and why that diesel relief may be short‑lived if Iran makes good on its retaliation threats once the ceasefire clock runs out Wednesday. War Reel covers the rapid escalation in the Strait of Hormuz — from “world exhale” on Friday to ship seizures and canceled talks by Monday — and what it means for your fuel bill, fertilizer, and grain flows. We wrap with the Farm Bill timeline, new sanctions and USDA rules, a brutal Southeast/Southern Plains drought that’s driving herd liquidation, and the same old reminder: this is a don’t‑screw‑up market, not a get‑rich market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cattle markets take a breather after Tuesday's all-time high of $253.60 on April live cattle. June fats down almost $3 at midday, feeders hammered $1-$4 on higher corn. But don't panic — cash hasn't traded yet this week, Fed Cattle Exchange listed 1,222 head with bids $2.46-$2.48 and not a single animal sold. This is a cash-led bull market and sellers are holding the line. The Hormuz blockade expanded this morning to weapons interdiction. 13 vessels turned back, 10 Iranian-flagged tankers rebuffed, 10,000 US forces active in the blockade. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth: "locked and loaded on your critical dual-use infrastructure." Brent bounced nearly 4% to $98.61. National diesel at $5.62 — twenty cents off the all-time record. Ceasefire has 5-6 days left; round-two talks possibly this weekend in Pakistan. PLUS: Secretary Brooke Rollins reportedly targeting July 7 phased reopening of the Mexican border to feeder cattle starting at Douglas, AZ. Screwworm sterile-fly facility breaking ground in South Texas. Grains: May corn $4.51¼ up 8¢, beans up 9-11¢, wheat fractionally higher. Drought steady at 50.18% of the Lower 48; relief rains across parts of TX, OK, LA, and the Midwest, but the Southwest stays dry. Severe weather returns Friday and Saturday — tornadoes, baseball-sized hail, and damaging winds from eastern New Mexico to South Central Missouri, broadening across the Southern and Central Plains Saturday. Fence Post Politics: Farm Bill stalled in the Senate, expires Sept 30; Section 232 tariffs still biting animal pharma; USDA FY27 proposal cuts 19%. On This Day: Donald Forsha Jones (b. 1890) — father of double-cross hybrid corn. 1996 — Oprah's mad cow segment triggers the Texas cattlemen's lawsuit (Cactus Feeders' Paul Engler leads; they lose). Sports: A's split four with Texas, 10-9 and tied for the division lead. White Sox in town tomorrow — Aaron Savale on the mound vs. Munetaka Murakami. Sponsors: Lone Star Stockyards (Wildorado, TX) — Foster Brothers Bull Sale Friday April 17. Atkinson Livestock (Atkinson, NE) — special bred cows & pairs auction Tuesday April 21. Subscribe at burningdaylight.substack.com. Dashboard: burning-daylight-report.vercel.app. Don't let your butt crack, and move your ass — we're burnin' daylight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friggin' Farm & Ranch Report on Burnin' Daylight. Cattle just printed 252-dollar highs, feeders are hot again, boxed beef finally quit that upside-down nonsense, and diesel's sniffing 5.60 with no sign of shame. Nebraska's wearing burn scars, 40,000 head are out of place, USDA's talking about cracking the Mexico feeder tap, screwworm's edging north, and BLM swears there's 24 million acres of federal grass sitting there if you're stubborn enough to chase it. We're not here to cheerlead the board. We're here to walk through what this mix of record cattle, hot fuel, and busted-up country actually does to your cost of gain, your grazing bill, and your cattle check -- so you don't turn the best market you've seen in years into the dumbest set of decisions you've ever made. Also the new camera setup only made the camera look better. The operator remains unchanged. Subscribe at burnindaylight.substack.com | Dashboard: burnin-daylight-report.vercel.app Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake and Matt are finally back and ripping around the league for their (slightly late) 2026 MLB “Opening Day” special. They start with the Detroit Tigers: last year’s brutal division collapse, the playoff run that followed, and why a roster built around Scooble, McGonigle, Colt Keith, Parker Meadows and a deep bullpen might make them the team to beat in the AL Central this year. From there they hit all the early storylines hardcore baseball fans actually care about: Juan Soto and Brent Rooker already hitting the IL, Justin Verlander’s latest setback, George Springer’s busted toe, and whether A.J. Hinch is leaning too hard into matchups and analytics with the arms he’s got. Next up is a full lap around MLB: Dodgers and Padres both looking like juggernauts, Sasaki’s redemption arc after last year’s struggles, Shohei back on the mound, and why the Pirates, Royals, D‑backs and Padres all feel like “are they for real?” teams two weeks into the season. Jake and Matt break down how the AL and NL Central really stack up, why the Rockies and White Sox are suddenly kind of fun to watch, and what Murakami, Luis Robert and some of the other imports and young bats might do over a full 162. They wrap with way‑too‑early division and playoff picks, some degenerate betting talk, and a little youth baseball life mixed in. If you’re trying to lock in on the 2026 season without sitting through four different studio shows, this is your episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Crude finally gave a little back, but diesel didn't, wheat got drunk again, and the cattle market still refuses to blink. In today's Friggin' Farm & Ranch Report, we walk through day two after the Hormuz shock: WTI backing off into the low 90s, diesel still north of $5.60, wheat ripping 8% in a day, and live cattle camped out in record country. We hit the board first -- April and June live, heavy feeder trade with the CME index closing the gap, hogs stuck in the mud, corn and beans acting tired, and HRW wheat riding a rented war-and-drought rally. Then it's the sale barn pulse: Atkinson Livestock, OKC West, Clovis, Torrington, Billings, and Utah all putting real-money tags on calves, replacer females, and bulls in a 75-year-low cow herd. On the horse side, the A Man About A Horse cull index ticks higher for the first time in a long while, broke ranch geldings hold, registered ranch-broke horses trend up, and projects get cheaper -- same message as the cattle ring: finished product gets the check, "someday" gets punished. We close with crude, diesel, the E15 waiver, fertilizer carrying the Hormuz premium, and a war reel from the Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea and Black Sea. Then On This Day takes us back to Black Sunday 1935 and The Grapes of Wrath in 1939. It's not a get-rich market. It's a don't-screw-it-up market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices