When all was said and done, negotiated cash fed cattle trade last week was steady to $2 higher on a live basis at $110-$112/cwt. and fully steady in the beef at $175.
According to the Texas Cattle Feeders Association on Friday, “Tyson announced this afternoon that for all fed cattle harvested next week, they will make a one-time assistance payment to cattle feeders of $5/cwt. live and $7.94/cwt. dressed.”
Firmer cash prices and wholesale beef values helped Cattle futures extend gains Friday, following the previous session’s limit-up move, despite lower outside markets.
Live Cattle futures closed an average of $1.82 higher, from 60¢ higher to $3.55 higher in spot Apr. Thursday to Thursday, Open Interest declined 46,267 contracts to 285,018, the lowest level since September of 2018.
Feeder Cattle futures closed and average 0f $4.56 higher.
Choice wholesale boxed beef values were sharply higher and Select was lower with light to moderate demand and moderate to heavy offerings.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $3.88 higher Friday afternoon at $253.75/cwt. Select was 89¢ lower at $240.17.
Corn futures closed 1¢ lower to 1¢ higher.
Soybean futures closed mostly 11¢ to 19¢ higher through Sep ‘21, and then 6¢ to 8¢ higher.
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Coronavirus fears continued to roil equity markets Friday amid another day of volatile trade that left major U.S. financial indices sharply lower. Specific pressure included, the stay-home order issued in New York and softer crude oil prices, as well as CME auctioning the portfolios of Ronin, LLC., a direct clearing firm.
“The firm was unable to meet its capital requirements going forward,” according to a statement from the CME. “Though Ronin is a direct clearing member, it does not handle customer business; and no clients were impacted by the auction.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 913 points lower. The S&P 500 closed 104 points lower. The NASDAQ was down 271 points.
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The monthly Cattle on Feed report published Friday should be supportive. Numbers came in about even with pre-report expectations.
February placements for feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity were 1.71 million head, which was 7.91% less (-147,000 head) than the previous year. In terms of placement weights, 38.28% went on feed weighing 699 lbs. or less, 51.49% weighing 700-899 lbs. and 10.23% weighing 900 lbs. or more.
Marketings in February of 1.77 million head were 5.47% more (+92,000 head) than the previous year.
The on-feed inventory Mar. 1 of 11.81 million head was 0.18% more (+21,000 head), compared to a year earlier.