Cattle futures continued to unwind Tuesday with sharply lower Choice wholesale beef values so far this week and last week’s drop in negotiated cash fed cattle prices.
Toward the close, Live Cattle futures were an average of $2.47 lower. Feeder Cattle futures were an average of $5.59 lower.
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade ranged from inactive on light demand in Kansas to limited on light tomoderate demand in the North through Tuesday afternoon, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service.
Although too few transactions to trend, there were some early dressed delivered trades in Nebraska at $380/cwt. and at $385 in the western Corn Belt.
Last week, FOB live prices were mainly $248/cwt. in all regions. Dressed delivered prices were $393 in the western Corn Belt and $390-$393 in Nebraska.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $1.66 lower Tuesday afternoon at 373.95/cwt. Select was 76¢ lower at $364.41. Choice was $8.73 lower in the last two days.
Corn and Soybean futures were lower Tuesday with improved crop ratings (see below) and a more favorable weather outlook.
Toward the close and through near Mar contracts, Corn futures were mostly 3¢ to 4¢ lower. Soybean futures were mostly 3¢ to 5¢ lower.
Kansas City HRW Wheat futures were 8¢ to 11¢ higher with added premium on Russian export disruptions stemming from the war between the Ukraine and Russia.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed higher Tuesday, helped by a tamer inflation reading than expected.
The all items Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) decreased 0.4% month to month in June on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.5% before seasonal adjustment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 9 points higher. The S&P 500 closed 28 points higher. The NASDAQ was up 233 points.
Through mid-afternoon, West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures (CME) were 11¢ to $1.92 higher through the front six contracts.
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Pasture and range conditions eroded last week, according to USDAs Crop Progress report for the week ending July 12. Nationwide, 30% was rated as Good (25%) or Excellent (5%), compared to 33% the previous week and 46% the prior year. On the other end of the scale, 40% was in Poor (22%) or Very Poor condition (18%), which was 12% more than the same time last year.
States with 40% or more pasture and range ranked as Poor or Very Poor included: Arizona (74%), Colorado (69%), Montana (50%); Nebraska (62%), New Mexico (64%), North Carolina (58%), Oregon (46%), South Dakota (40%); Virginia (42%), West Virginia (63%) and Wyoming (64%).
Winter wheat harvest was 67% completed, which was 5% more than the same time last year and 6% more than the five-year average.
Corn condition improved week to week with 68% in Good (53%) or Excellent (15%) condition, compared to 67% a week earlier and 74% a year earlier; 8% was rated as Poor (6%) or Very Poor (2%), which was the same as the previous week but 3% more than a year earlier.
Similarly, 65% of soybeans were rated in Good (53%) or Excellent (12%) condition, which was 1% more than the previous week and 5% less than the prior year; 8% was rated as Poor (6%) or Very Poor (2%), the same as the previous week but 3% more than a year earlier.