Cattle futures crawled higher Wednesday with follow-through support.
Toward the close, Live Cattle futures were an average of 29¢ higher, except for unchanged and 40¢ lower in the front two contracts. Feeder Cattle futures were an average of 94¢ higher, except for 2¢ lower in Aug.
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade was mostly inactive on light demand in all major cattle feeding regions through Wednesday afternoon, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service.
FOB live prices last week were $218/cwt. in the South Central region, mostly $216-$218 in Nebraska and $210-$218 in the western Corn Belt. Dressed delivered prices were $330-$340 in Nebraska and mostly $340 in the western Corn Belt.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $2.72 lower Wednesday afternoon at $360.26/cwt. Select was $4.15 lower at $347.47.
Grain and Soybean futures were mixed on Wednesday.
Through late afternoon, and through the front four contracts, Corn futures were fractionally lower to 1¢ lower with likely profit taking. Soybean futures were 2¢ to 5¢ higher. Kansas City HRW Wheat futures were 5¢ to 8¢ higher.
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Major U.S. financial indices rebounded on Wednesday, led by tech stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 254 points higher. The S&P 500 closed 98 points higher. The NASDAQ was up 400 points.
Through mid-afternoon, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures (CME) were 34¢ to 79¢ higher through the front six contracts.
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Despite recent seasonal increases in feeder cattle receipts, year-to-date auction and direct receipts through October were 6.5% less year over year, according to the Livestock Marketing Information Center (LMIC).
“The three-week average ending Oct. 30 was up 4.3% compared to the same period last year,” LMIC analysts say in the Nov. 6 Livestock Monitor. “The latest three-week heifer average reached 102,618 head, a 2.8% increase compared to the same period in 2025. Looking at historical comparisons of the heifer share of auction and direct receipts, heifers represented an average of 40.2% in October. This is down from October 2025 with an average of 41.6%. The declining share is consistent with signs of herd retention. However, relative to the previous herd expansion, the current October average far outpaces the average of 36.5% a decade ago. The difference in averages could be explained by sustained drought impacts of the West, strong feeder cattle prices, and other mitigating economic factors.”