Cattle futures edged lower on Friday…though softer week to week, cash calf and feeder cattle prices should strengthen seasonally with the new year… coming up on your Cattle Current Market Update with Wes Ishmael.
Cattle futures settled lower on Friday, after follow-through support early in the session. The overall tone remains weak.
Except for a few cents higher in a couple of contracts, Live Cattle futures closed 32¢ lower.
Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of 85¢ lower (67¢ to $1.17 lower).
Choice boxed beef cutout value was 51¢ higher on Friday afternoon at $205.59/cwt. Select was $2.14 higher at $185.97.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed higher on Friday, buoyed by the monthly employment outlook. Total non-farm employment increased by 228,000 in November, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was more than the trade expected.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 117 points higher. The S&P 500 closed 14 points higher. The NASDAQ closed 27 points higher.
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Although cash calf and feeder cattle prices softened recently—under pressure from deteriorating Cattle futures—Andrew P. Griffith, Agricultural economist at the University of Tennessee, expects prices to strengthen seasonally in the first quarter of the new year.
“The sudden price downturn is likely to reverse and move back to the trading range that has been consistent since the middle of September,” Griffith says, in his weekly market comments. “Additionally, prices for lightweight calves tend to strengthen after the first of the year. Similarly, feeder cattle prices generally find support in January, though they have been supported most of the fourth quarter of 2017. It may also be important for producers to realize that it may be difficult for calf and feeder cattle prices to outpace the prices realized the last few months of 2017. Fall calf and feeder cattle prices were supported throughout the fall marketing time period, which is rare. However, the market simply followed the live cattle market, which it is expected to do in the coming months. Thus, as live cattle prices begin to escalate late in the first quarter of 2018, so will feeder cattle prices. Calf prices toward the end of the first quarter will be supported by the feeder cattle market and abundant spring forage.”