Cash fed cattle prices on Thursday continued mainly steady to $1 higher than last week at $117-$118/cwt.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was 10¢ higher Thursday afternoon at $205.16/cwt. Select was 36¢ higher at $197.78.
Cattle futures edged higher on Thursday as traders digested the notion of steady to higher cash trade and continued stabilization in wholesale beef values.
Live Cattle futures closed an average of 38¢ higher (2¢ to 75¢ higher).
Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of 38¢ higher (7¢ to 60¢ higher).
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Major U.S. financial indices closed narrowly mixed on Thursday as investors awaited Friday’s monthly employment numbers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 9 points. The S&P 500 closed 5 points lower. The NASDAQ closed 22 points lower.
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“Lower corn prices could help to boost feedlot demand for lighter weight cattle at a time when we will likely see larger supplies of those same cattle. That could help to add some support for feeder cattle prices just as many producers are looking to unload,” says Brian Williams, a livestock economist with Mississippi State University, in the most recent issue of In the Cattle Markets.
Although corn yield looks to be lower than last year’s record pace, barring major weather catastrophe over the next month or so, Williams expects corn prices to continue trending lower through harvest.
Moreover, Williams expects more calves to trade hands earlier than usual, due to drought in the Northern Plains. Other than finding pasture south beyond the Corn Belt, he notes the most likely destination is straight to the feedlot.
“Profitability has allowed cattle feeders to aggressively buy animals (feeder cattle). The result has been more steers and heifers placed on-feed than a year ago and higher feeder cattle prices,” say analyst with the Livestock Marketing Information Center, in the most recent Livestock Monitor. “Monthly Cattle on Feed reports from NASS show the number of cattle placed into feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity during the first six months of 2017 was 11.17 million head. That was a year-over-year jump of 1.10 million head or 11%. Further, the number of head placed during January through June was the largest for that timeframe since 2003.”