Cattle Look to Thursday After Pulling Our Gains on Wednesday
Live cattle futures closed out the Wednesday session down 27 cents in the August contract, but up 40 to 60 cents in other months. Cash trade has been light this week, with light dressed trade at $385 in the North, up $4 wk/wk. Southern trade was up $2 to $237. The Wednesday morning Fed Cattel Exchange online auction showed sales on 40 of the 1,268 head offered at $245 in IA using the BidTheGrid™ method. Feeder cattle futures shrugged off the midday weakness, with contracts up 37 to 50 cents at the close. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up another $1.40 to $344.09 on August 12.
USDA Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were mixed in the Wednesday PM report, with the Chc/Sel spread tightening to $22.53. Choice boxes were down 9 cents at $390.49, while Select was $2.32 higher to $367.96. USDA estimated cattle slaughter for Wednesday was 116,000 head, with the week to date total at 333,000. That was up just 1,000 head from last week but 22,968 head lower vs. the same week in 2024.
Aug 25 Live Cattle closed at $235.550, down $0.275,
Oct 25 Live Cattle closed at $229.425, up $0.400,
Dec 25 Live Cattle closed at $231.400, up $0.500,
Aug 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $345.875, up $0.500,
Sep 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $346.625, up $0.375,
Oct 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $345.625, up $0.475,
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.