Cattle futures bounced higher Tuesday with support from stronger wholesale beef values. Feeder Cattle were also buoyed by hefty cash trade.
Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of $1.87 higher ($1.47 to $2.37 higher).
Live Cattle futures closed an average of 63¢ higher.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $2.99 higher Tuesday afternoon at 301.66/cwt., the highest level since the first part of November. Select was $1.80 higher at $288.38/cwt.
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade was at a standstill through Tuesday afternoon, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service.
FOB live prices last week were $173.50/cwt. in the Texas Panhandle, $173 in Kansas $173 in Nebraska and $175 in the western Corn Belt. Dressed delivered prices were $273-$274.
Soybean futures closed mostly 8¢ to 15¢ higher through Sep ’25 and then 6¢ higher with chatter about softer South American production.
Corn futures closed fractionally higher to 1¢ higher.
KC HRW Wheat futures closed mostly 4¢ to 5¢ higher.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed mixed Tuesday on mixed earnings reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 96 points lower. The S&P 500 closed 14 points higher. The NASDAQ was up 65 points.
West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures (CME) closed 36¢ to 39¢ lower through the front six contracts.
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USDA will release the much-anticipated semiannual Cattle report next Wednesday with estimates of the cattle inventory. In the meantime, other data continues pointing to the lack of her rebuilding so far.
For one, the ratio of beef cows and heifers in last year’s slaughter mix was near record high, according to analysts with USDA Economic Research Service (ERS), in the January Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook. Specifically, ERS analysts say beef cows and heifers comprised 42.1% of cattle slaughter last year, only slightly less than the previous year’s record 42.3% (since the data series began in 1986).
“In 2023, all classes of slaughter were down from the prior year. However, the proportion of heifers and cows in the slaughter mix was higher than anticipated a year ago,” say ERS analysts. “The expectation was that as drought from 2020–22 largely receded, pasture conditions improved, and calf prices rose, producers would be more willing to retain heifers and cows to maintain or expand their herds.”
As well, heifers comprised 39.4% of the cattle on feed, Jan.1, according to the most recent Cattle on Feed report. That was about the same as the previous year’s historically high percentage. In raw numbers, however, there were 4.74 million heifers on feed Jan. 1, compared to 4.65 million head the previous year.