Negotiated cash fed cattle trade was mostly inactive on light demand in all regions through Wednesday afternoon, with too few transactions to trend, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service.
Last week, live prices were $165-$167/cwt. in the Texas Panhandle; $167 in Kansas, $168-$172 in Nebraska and $170 in the western Corn Belt. Dressed prices were $270-$272.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was 68¢ higher Wednesday afternoon at $288.62/cwt. Select was 21¢ higher at $278.16/cwt.
Cattle future closed narrowly mixed Wednesday, awaiting weekly cash direction.
Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of 34¢ lower.
Live Cattle futures closed an average of 11¢ higher, except for 80¢ higher in spot Apr and unchanged in the back contract.
Corn futures closed mostly 1¢ to 3¢ higher, except for unchanged to 1¢ lower in old-crop contracts
KC HRW Wheat closed mostly 11¢ to 14¢ lower.
Soybean futures closed 3¢ to 6¢ lower through Sep ‘24 and then fractionally higher to 6¢ higher.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed mostly lower Wednesday with more economic data suggesting the domestic economy is losing steam.
Private sector employment increased by 145,000 jobs in March and annual pay was up 6.9% year-over-year, according to the March ADP® National Employment ReportTM.
“Our March payroll data is one of several signals that the economy is slowing,” says Nela Richardson, ADP chief economist. “Employers are pulling back from a year of strong hiring and pay growth, after a three-month plateau, is inching down.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 80 points higher. The S&P 500 closed 10 points lower. The NASDAQ was down 129 points.
West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures (CME) closed 6¢ to 10¢ lower through the front six contracts.
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Record U.S. beef and export values last year generated significant returns to the U.S. corn and soybean industries, according to an independent study conducted by World Perspectives, Inc. and released by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). U.S. beef and pork exports contributed an estimated total economic impact of 15% per bushel to the value of corn and 13% per bushel to soybeans.
“For every bushel of corn we marketed in 2022, a little over $1 was attributed to red meat exports and with soybeans, pork exports contributed $1.94 per bushel,” says USMEF Chair Dean Meyer, who produces corn, soybeans, cattle and hogs near Rock Rapids, Iowa. “Pork and beef exports bring critical support to our bottom lines.”
Corn and soybean growers support the international promotion of U.S. pork, beef and lamb by investing a portion of their checkoff dollars in market development efforts conducted by USMEF.
“We are a major exporter of corn and soybeans but this study reminds us of the value of our indirect exports of corn and soybeans through pork and beef,” says Dave Juday, senior analyst for World Perspectives. “The contributions of pork and beef exports to the per-bushel value of U.S. corn and soybeans in 2022 were the highest estimates we’ve seen to date. And that was critically important, as corn and soybean farmers worked to maintain margins with higher input costs across the board.”