There were only 474 head offered (5 lots) in the weekly Fed Cattle Exchange Auction on Wednesday, but most of them sold: 387 head (4 lots) for a weighted average price of $126/cwt. for delivery at 1-9 days. That’s the same price paid the previous day in early Nebraska trade. It also mirrored eventual country trade.
Early live trade was at $126 in the Southern Plains on Wednesday, in light trade with light to moderate demand. Early dressed trade in Nebraska was at $203-$204; $204 in the western Corn Belt.
After strong support early, Cattle futures drifted to a mostly narrowly mixed close.
Live Cattle futures closed unchanged to an average of 17¢ higher.
After an average of 64¢ lower in the front two contracts, Feeder Cattle futures closed narrowly mixed (22¢ lower to 35¢ higher).
Wholesale beef values were little changed Wednesday with Choice boxed beef cutout value 22¢ higher in the afternoon at $223.57/cwt. Select was even at $215.20.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed mixed on Wednesday and off of session lows, following chatter that tariffs on steel and aluminum might not apply to key trading partners, Canada and Mexico.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 82 points lower. The S&P 500 closed 1 point lower. The NASDAQ closed 24 points higher.
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“The underlying agricultural story for 2018 may be due to the global demand for meat,” say Lee Schulz, Extension livestock economist and Chris Hart, livestock economist with Iowa State University (ISU). “Currently, the surge in meat consumption globally has improved livestock market returns and led to significant increases in production. That is, in turn, providing support for the crop markets, at a time when those markets need a usage boost.”
Schulz and Hart provide a summary of USDA’s annual outlook in the most recent Agricultural Policy Review from ISU’s Center for Rural Agriculture and Development (CARD).
“For the livestock sector, expansion is projected in all of the major product groups,” they say. “Beef production is set to be 6% higher and pork production will grow by 5%. Broiler production will climb to nearly 42.5 billion lbs. and turkey production will reach 6 billion lbs…Price projections for 2018 show lower prices, but the drops in prices are being offset by the gains in production.