Grain futures rebounded from the previous session’s hard break. Kansas City Wheat set the pace — up mainly 24¢ to 32¢ — as traders apparently grew less confident in the Russia ceasefire chatter. Soybeans also received support from stronger oil prices.
Corn futures closed 20¢ to 24¢ higher in old-crop contracts and then mostly 11¢ to 14¢ higher.
Soybean futures closed 14¢ to 21¢ higher in old-crop contracts and then mostly 8¢ to 12¢ higher.
Higher grain futures weighed on Feeder Cattle futures, which closed an average of $1.13 lower.
Live Cattle futures edged an average of 13¢ higher, except for 7¢ lower in Feb.
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade waddled from the blocks at steady money of $138/cwt. on a live basis in the Southern Plains and Nebraska through Thursday afternoon, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service. That was on moderate demand and light trade in the Southern Plains; slow trade and light demand in Nebraska.
Elsewhere, trade was limited on light demand with too few transactions to trend.
Live prices in the western Corn Belt last week were at $138-$140. Dressed prices there were $219-$222; $220 in Nebraska.
Choice Boxed beef cutout value was $1.03 lower Thursday afternoon at $257.05/cwt. Select was 41¢higher at $250.68.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed sharply higher again Thursday, amid what some analysts term a relief-rally, in this case tied to confirmation of what was mainly expected in the Fed announcement the previous day, relative to interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 417 points higher. The S&P 500 closed 53 points higher. The NASDAQ was up 178 points.
CME WTI Crude Oil futures closed $6.41 to $8.06 higher in the front six contracts.
West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures on the CME closed $6.41 to $8.06 higher in the front six contracts as Russia continued its attack on Ukraine.
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“Cow and calf prices have taken divergent paths in recent weeks due to the uncertainty of war, rising feed costs, record cattle on feed, and shifting consumer purchases,” says David Anderson, Extension livestock economist at Texas A&M University, in the latest issue of In the Cattle Markets from the Livestock marketing Information Center.
Anderson notes the price for mid-7-weight steers dropped about $9 over the last two weeks to $156/cwt., though still significantly higher than $138 a year earlier (Southern Plains). At the same time, he says cull cow prices reached $75/cwt. in the Southern Plains last week, which was $20 higher than early February. He adds 85-90% lean cull cows averaged about $46 a year earlier. The five-year average price for the first week of March was about $59.
“Cow prices are increasing in spite of large cow slaughter. Weekly cow slaughter during the first two weeks of February totaled at least 145,000 head per week. That was the largest weekly slaughter since the first week of December 2012,” Anderson says. “It was the biggest two consecutive weeks since the fall of 2011. Beef cow slaughter has been extremely large, rivaling peak fall slaughter levels. This large beef cow slaughter is coinciding with seasonally large dairy cow slaughter, which typically peaks early in the year.”
Anderson explains higher prices in tandem with increased volume speaks to consumer demand.
“Both the cow beef cutout and wholesale 90% lean beef for ground beef are well above a year ago, at $229 and $284/cwt., respectively,” Anderson says. “Wholesale middle meat prices have dropped in recent weeks. For example, both wholesale ribeye and strip loin prices have fallen below year-ago levels. There is some evidence of consumers shifting purchases to more ground beef and fewer steaks in response to high retail prices. There is also evidence of some shifting to less expensive Select beef cuts and away from higher priced Choice and Prime.”