Cattle futures were higher Wednesday, buoyed by aggressively stronger equity markets.
Toward the close, Live Cattle futures were an average of $1.04 higher. Feeder Cattle futures were an average of $1.64 higher.
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade was at a standstill in all major cattle feeding regions through Wednesday afternoon, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service.
Last week, FOB live prices were $190/cwt. in all regions with dressed delivered prices at $296-$298 in Nebraska and $298 in the western Corn Belt.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $1.62 lower Wednesday afternoon at $315.59/cwt. Select was $2.04 lower at $283.20.
Grain and Soybean futures were mixed Wednesday.
Toward the close and through Sep ’25 contracts, Corn futures were 4¢ to 8¢ higher. Kansas City Wheat futures were 1¢ to 3¢ lower. Soybean futures were mixed, from 2¢ lower to 3¢ higher.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed sharply higher Wednesday with investors cheering results of the presidential election.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1,508 points higher. The S&P 500 closed 146 points higher. The NASDAQ was up 544 points.
Through mid-afternoon, West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures on the CME were 11¢ to 21¢ lower through the front six contracts.
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September U.S. beef exports were higher year-over-year, according to data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).
Exports of U.S. beef totaled 103,980 metric tons (mt) in September, up 5% year-over-year, while export value climbed 6% to $843.8 million. January-September exports increased 5% in value to $7.82 billion, despite volume falling 2% to 960,814 mt.
With the exception of China/Hong Kong, September beef exports trended higher than a year ago in all major Asian markets, while demand remained strong in Mexico and shipments to Central America were the largest in 18 months.
“The tourism rebound in Asia has certainly provided momentum for U.S. beef, especially in Japan, Taiwan and Korea,” according to Dan Halstrom, USMEF president and CEO. “We also saw impressive growth in the Philippines and Indonesia, which are markets where we see a lot of untapped growth potential.”
Beef export value equated to $412.52 per head of fed slaughter in September, up 3% from a year ago. The January-September average was $414.62 per head, up 5%.
For broader perspective, U.S. pork exports in September of 238,047 mt were 8% more year over year, while value increased 6% to $685.1 million. Through the first three quarters of the year, pork exports were 5% above last year’s pace at 2.23 million mt, with value up 7% to $6.36 billion.