Cattle futures gained Thursday with likely positioning ahead of Friday’s monthly Cattle on Feed report. Export sales also provided support.
Net U.S. beef export sales for the week ending April 11 were 17,700 metric tons for 2024, according to the weekly U.S. Export Sales report. That was 30% more than the previous week and 27% more than the prior four-week average. Increases were primarily for South Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan and Mexico.
At the close and before final settlement, Live Cattle futures were an average of $1.46 higher. Feeder Cattle futures were an average of $1.65 higher.
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade ranged from mostly inactive on very light demand to a standstill in all major cattle feeding regions through Thursday afternoon, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service.
Last week, FOB live prices were $182/cwt. in the Southern Plains, $184 in Nebraska and $185 in the western Corn Belt. Dressed delivered prices were $293.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $1.01 lower Thursday afternoon at $295.80/cwt. Select was $1.61 lower at $289.27/cwt.
Turning to row crops before the close, Corn futures mostly 4¢ lower. Kansas City Wheat futures were 4¢ to 5¢ higher through Jly ’25. Soybean futures were 10¢ to 16¢ lower through Jly ’25.
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Major U.S. financial indices drifted to a narrowly mixed close Thursday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 22 points higher. The S&P 500 closed 11 points lower. The NASDAQ was down 81 points.
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An estimated 42% of cattle were in areas affected by abnormal dryness or drought the week ending April 16, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor. That was 15% less than the same week last year. That was with 38.6% of the U.S. experiencing abnormal dryness or drought, compared to 46.5% a year earlier.
“Over the next five days (April 19-23), more heavy precipitation is expected in the Plains and Midwest,” according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor Summary. “Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota could see upwards of 2.5 inches of precipitation. Northeast Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, and western Arkansas could see 1.5 to 2 inches of precipitation. Areas of higher elevation in the Rockies of Colorado and Wyoming are also expected to see between 1-2 inches.
“The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center’s six to 10-day outlook (Valid April 22) favors above-normal precipitation for southern parts of the U.S., particularly along the eastern Gulf Coast from Texas and Louisiana into parts of Arkansas and Oklahoma. Florida is also favoring above-normal precipitation.”
Looking further ahead, there is an 85% chance the current El Niño transitions to neutral by April to June, according to the Climate Prediction Center. There is a 60% chance of La Niña developing by June-August and an 85% chance of La Niña conditions in the northern hemisphere by this fall and early winter.