Cattle futures were narrowly mixed Monday as traders appeared to wait for further cash direction.
Heading into the close and before settlement, Live Cattle futures were narrowly mixed, from an average of 46¢ lower to an average of 22¢ higher.
Feeder Cattle closed were an average of 37¢ higher, except for 67¢ lower in the back contract.
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade ranged from inactive on very light demand to a standstill through Monday afternoon, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service.
Last week, FOB live prices were steady in the Texas Panhandle at $184/cwt., unevenly steady to $1 higher in Kansas at $183-$185, steady in Nebraska at $186-187 and steady to $2 higher in the western Corn Belt at mostly $187. Dressed delivered prices were $1 higher in Nebraska at $295-$296 and mainly steady in the western Corn Belt at mostly $295.
The five-area weighted average direct FOB live steer price last week was 20¢ higher at$185.94. The weighted average dressed delivered steer prices was 63¢ higher at $295.28.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $4.38 higher Monday afternoon at $298.95/cwt. Select was $3.01 higher at $287.18/cwt.
Grain and Soybean futures closed higher Monday, with follow-through support from Friday’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates and planting delays.
Corn futures were mostly fractionally higher to 5¢ higher through Jly ’25.
Kansas City Wheat futures 16¢ to 25¢ higher through Jly ‘25.
Soybean were mostly 4¢ to 8¢ higher through 2025.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed narrowly mixed Monday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 81 points lower. The S&P 500 closed 1 point lower. The NASDAQ was up 47 points.
Heading into the close West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures on the CME were 78¢ to $1.01 lower through the front six contracts.
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Hay stocks on farms May 1 of 21 million tons were 6.7 million tons more than the previous year (+47%), according to the latest USDA Crop Production report.
“To be fair, hay stocks on May 1, 2023, were as low as they had been since 2013. But a year-over-year increase of this magnitude is noteworthy and confirms that hay supply has continued to increase after a very challenging year in 2022,” says Kenny Burdine, Extension livestock economist at the University of Kentucky, in the latest issue of Cattle Market Notes Weekly.
Burdine explains the widespread drought in 2022 tightened hay supplies across most of the nation.
“Producers responded by harvesting more hay acres in 2023, resulting in a 6.3% increase in all hay production,” Burdine says. He adds hay production increased as beef cow numbers decreased, which impacted total hay needs.
Regionally, Burdine notes hay stocks were significantly higher year-over-year in the Southern Plains, fairly static in the Southeast and significantly lower in the upper Midwest.