Cattle futures mostly edged higher Friday with support from weaker Corn futures.
Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of 40¢ higher, except for an average of 15¢ lower in the back two contracts.
Live Cattle futures closed an average of 15¢ higher, except for unchanged in spot Feb.
Corn futures closed mostly 1¢ to 3¢ lower.
KC HRW Wheat futures closed 1¢ to 5¢ higher through May ‘24 and then mostly 2¢ lower to 1¢ higher.
Soybean futures closed 2¢ to 14¢ lower through Sep ‘23, and then mostly 3¢ higher.
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade ranged from limited on light demand to mostly inactive on light demand with too few transactions to trend through Friday afternoon, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service.
For the week dressed prices were steady in Nebraska at $248/cwt. and steady to $2 lower in the western Corn Belt at $248, where live prices were $1-$4 lower at $152-$157.
The previous week, live prices were $155 in the Southern Plains and Nebraska.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was 99¢ lower Friday afternoon at $267.76/cwt. Select was 94¢ lower at $250.54/cwt.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed higher Friday with follow-through support from the previous day’s read on domestic economic growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 28 points higher. The S&P 500 closed 10 points higher. The NASDAQ was up 109 points.
West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures (CME) closed $1.30 to $1.33 lower through the front six contracts.
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Andrew P. Griffith, agricultural economist at the University of Tennessee, says calf prices are expected to firm through February and into March.
“The primary driver of how quickly prices increase and to what degree prices increase will be determined by how quickly certain regions experience spring green up,” Griffith explains in his weekly market comments. “Many cattle producers in Tennessee are short on hay as are many other regions of the country. The inability to feed animals will keep a lid on prices…If there are signs of an early jump in forage this spring, then prices will escalate earlier and move higher. If the opposite is true, then calf prices will still increase but not at the same speed or reach the same level.”