Cattle futures were narrowly mixed Tuesday with pressure from outside markets and wonderment about this week’s cash fed cattle prices.
Toward the close, Live Cattle futures were narrowly mixed, from unchanged to 12¢ lower in five contracts to an average of 13¢ higher. Feeder Cattle futures were an average of 20¢ higher, except for 15¢ lower in the back contract.
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade was at a standstill in all major cattle feeding regions through Tuesday afternoon, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service.
Last week, FOB live prices were $202-$203/cwt. in the Southern Plains and $206 in the North. Dressed delivered prices were $325.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $2.16 higher Tuesday afternoon at $323.32/cwt. Select was $1.33 higher at $309.23.
Grain and Soybean futures were mixed again Tuesday.
Toward the close and through Sep ’25 contracts, Kansas City Wheat futures were fractionally mixed. Corn futures were 1¢ to 3¢ lower. Soybean futures were 2¢ to 3¢ lower.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed lower Tuesday, led by tech stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 260 points lower. The S&P 500 closed 60 points lower. The NASDAQ was down 304 points.
West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures on the CME were 57¢ to 80¢ lower through the front six contracts.
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La Niña is ending and drought is expanding, according to the latest data.
For the week ending March 11, 43.6% of the nation was experiencing some degree of drought, compared to 22.3% a year earlier, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Painting with a finer brush, 7.5% of the nation was enduring extreme or exceptional drought, compared to 1.5% a year earlier. 38% of the nation’s cattle were in areas impacted by drought versus 18% a year earlier.
The U.S. Drought Monitor’s Seasonal Outlook through May indicated persistent drought and emerging drought across a wide swath of the country from the entire state of Texas and up through the Northern Plains, extending west to Nevada and down to Southern California.
In the meantime, odds favor La Niña ending and ENSO-neutral conditions emerging in the next month, according to the latest La Niña Advisory from NOAA’s National Weather Center.