Cash fed cattle trade last week ended up mostly $2-$3 higher in the Southern Plains at mostly $124/cwt. Live trade in Nebraska was mostly $4 higher at mostly $126; steady to $3 higher in the beef at $195-$198. Live trade in the western Corn Belt was mostly $1 higher at mostly $123-$126; mostly steady to $2 higher in the beef at mostly $195-$197
That and significantly higher wholesale beef values should help maintain the market stability established last week. Cattle futures closed lower on Monday with light trade, but apparently due to position squaring at the end of the month, rather than a directional shift.
Live Cattle futures closed an average of $1.25 lower (70¢ to $1.87 lower).
Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of $1.87 lower ($1.60 to $2.05 lower).
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $2.68 higher Monday afternoon at $224.42/cwt. Select was 47¢ higher at $204.79.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed lower on Monday, with some likely profit taking. T-Mobile’s announced intention to acquire rival, Sprint, also applied pressure.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 148 points lower. The S&P 500 closed 21 points lower. The NASDAQ closed 53 points lower.
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“Higher cutout values are feeding into higher fed cattle prices,” says David Anderson, Extension livestock economist at Texas A&M University, in the latest issue of In the Cattle Markets. “The Choice beef cutout started this week at $224.50, up $13 in the last seven weekdays. The Choice cutout is about $5 above this point a year ago, while fed cattle prices are about $12 below this point last year. That has resulted in a live-to-cutout price spread more than $100 per head greater than April 2017. The Choice-Select spread is widening, seasonally, as the Choice cutout has increased faster than the Select cutout.”
Plus, Anderson reminds that the lingering winter likely delayed beef orders and featuring.
“There is some evidence of a rapid spike in beef orders for retail featuring over the next several months,” Anderson explains. “The rib and loin primal cut values are pulling the cutout higher with both primals up over $20 in the last week.”