Cattle futures drifted lower Thursday, lacking the week’s cash fed cattle direction and perhaps with some wariness about Friday’s monthly Cattle on Feed report. Depending on the estimates you consider, analysts peg May placements about 2% less year over year, May marketings about even and the June 1 cattle on feed inventory about 1% less.
Before settlement, Live Cattle futures were an average of 38¢ lower, except for an average of 49¢ higher in the front two contracts. Feeder Cattle futures were an average of 37¢ lower.
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade ranged from mostly inactive on light demand to a standstill through Thursday afternoon, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service.
Based on final established trade last week, FOB live prices were $186/cwt. in the Southern Plains $195-$198 in Nebraska and $193-$195 in the western Corn Belt. Dressed delivered prices were $305-$306; prices as high as $310.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $2.17 higher Thursday afternoon at $322.87/cwt. Select was $1.14 higher at $304.40/cwt.
Turning to grain and Soybean futures, heading into the close, through Jly ’25 contracts, Corn futures were 8¢ to 10¢ lower. Kansas City Wheat futures were 7¢ to 10¢ lower. Soybean futures closed were 10¢ to 18¢ lower.
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Yearling steers and heifers sold steady at Tulia Livestock Auction (1,634 head) in Texas. Stocker calves sold with a higher undertone.
Feeder steers and heifers sold $5-$8 higher at Woodward Livestock Auction (1,187 head) Oklahoma. Steer and heifer calves sold with a higher undertone in a light test.
Remember, if you’re looking for a weekly market summary and highlights, check out the CalfNews Price Point podcast that comes out each Tuesday. You’ll find it at CalfNews.net
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Major U.S. financial indices closed mixed Thursday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 299 points higher. The S&P 500 closed 13 points lower. The NASDAQ was down 140 points.
Heading into the close, West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures on the CME were 21¢ to 77¢ higher through the front six contracts.
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For the first four month of the year, cattle on feed longer than 150 days May 1 was the highest in 12 years, according to analysts with USDA’s Economic Research Service, in the latest Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook.
“According to industry participants, some packers are foregoing typical discounts on cattle above certain weights, further incentivizing feedlots to keep cattle on feed longer, especially as they maintain feedlot capacity utilization in the face of slowing placements,” ERS analysts explain.
Year over year for the week ending May 25, 2024, steer carcass weights were 37 pounds heavier and heifer carcass weights were 29 pounds higher, according to ERS.
“This additional weight is enabling packers to partially offset the impact of having fewer cattle to process than a year ago, as carcasses are yielding about 4% more product year over year,” ERS analysts say.
As mentioned in Cattle Current recently, ERS left projected beef production for this year basically unchanged, compared to the previous month at 26.6 billion pounds, as heavier expected dressed weights mostly offset lower anticipated slaughter.
Forecast beef production for 2025 of 25.4 billion pounds was 245 million pounds more than the previous month’s estimate.
Next year’s total would be 1.2 billion pounds less (-4.6%) than this year’s projected total.