Feeder Cattle futures softened Wednesday. Perhaps some of the softness had to do with the announcement yesterday that an E. coli outbreak in several states had been linked to a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder; more specifically, slivered onions (see below).
Toward the close, Feeder Cattle futures were an average of $1.95 lower. Live Cattle futures were an average of 16¢ lower, except for 5¢ higher in away-Oct.
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade ranged from mostly inactive on very light demand to a standstill through Wednesday afternoon, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service.
Last week, FOB live prices were $188/cwt. in the Southern Plains and $187-$188 in the North. Dressed delivered prices were $296.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $2.55 lower Wednesday afternoon at $321.41/cwt. Select was 97¢ higher at $295.77.
Turning to the grain complex, toward the close and through Sep ’25 contracts, Corn futures were fractionally higher to 3¢ higher. Kansas City Wheat futures were little changed. Soybean futures were 1¢ to 6¢ higher.
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Major U.S. financial closed sharply lower Wednesday, under pressure from rising Treasury yields.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 409 points lower. The S&P 500 closed 53 points lower. The NASDAQ was down 296 points.
Through mid-afternoon, West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures on the CME were 69¢ to 76¢ lower through the front six contracts.
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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported Tuesday that an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 had been linked to Quarter Pounders at McDonalds.
“The specific ingredient linked to illness has not yet been identified, but investigators are focused on two ingredients in particular: fresh slivered onions, and fresh beef patties,” according to the CDC … McDonald’s reported to CDC that they proactively removed the slivered onions and beef patties used for the Quarter Pounder hamburgers from stores in the affected states while the investigation continues. Quarter Pounder hamburgers in some states may be temporarily unavailable.”
All told, 49 people from 10 states (mostly Colorado and Nebraska) have gotten sick from the same strain of E. coli.
McDonald’s North America Chief Supply Chain Officer Cesar Piña shared the following internal message…
“…The initial findings from the investigation indicate that a subset of illnesses may be linked to slivered onions used in the Quarter Pounder and sourced by a single supplier that serves three distribution centers. As a result, and in line with our safety protocols, all local restaurants have been instructed to remove this product from their supply and we have paused the distribution of all slivered onions in the impacted area.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are also temporarily removing the Quarter Pounder from restaurants in the impacted area, including Colorado, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming, as well as portions of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.”