Cattle Holding Steady on Tuesday
Live cattle are holding close to unchanged so far at midday, with nearby contracts within a dime of unch. Cash trade has yet to kick off this week. It was slow last week, with the South kicking things off at $181, down $2 on the week. Northern sales were light with $180-183 reported last week by the USDA. Feeder cattle futures are showing 42 to 77 cent gains with help from the weakness in corn. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up $1.74 at $243.92 on September 6. The weekly OKC Feeder Cattle Auction on Monday saw sales on 10,154 head, well above the previous sale down from 10,556 a year ago. Feeder steers were down $1-5, with steer and heifer calves down $5-10.
USDA wholesale Boxed Beef prices were mixed in the Tuesday AM report. Choice boxes were back up $1.06 @ $309.58, with Select a penny lower at $298.48. The Chc/Select spread widened to $11.10. USDA estimated Monday’s federally inspected cattle slaughter at 114,000 head. That is well above the previous week due to the holiday but 7,407 head below the same week last year.
Oct 24 Live Cattle closed at $176.925, down $0.000,
Dec 24 Live Cattle closed at $176.775, down $0.025,
Feb 25 Live Cattle closed at $177.825, up $0.075,
Sep 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $238.500, up $0.775,
Oct 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $235.475, up $0.750,
Nov 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $232.250, up $0.425,
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.