Negotiated cash fed cattle trade ended up being steady to $1 lower last week at $110-$111/cwt. on a live basis and mostly $175 in the beef.
Higher feedlot placements in August weighed on Cattle futures Monday.
Except for 15¢ lower in the back contract, Live Cattle futures closed an average of 79¢ lower (42¢ to $1.45 lower).
Except for 50¢ lower in the front contract, Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of $1.19 lower (75¢ to $1.87 lower).
Wholesale beef values were firm to higher on fairly good demand and light offerings, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $1.36 higher Monday afternoon at $206.16/cwt. Select was 68¢ higher at $195.39.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed mostly lower on Monday. Pressure included cancellation of trade talks between the U.S. and China as counter tariffs begin this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 181 points lower. The S&P 500 closed 10 points lower. The NASDAQ was up 6 points.
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“Lightweight placements since May will result in lighter and later fed cattle marketings and may contribute to relatively tighter fed cattle supplies for the remainder of the year,” says Derrell Peel, Extension livestock marketing specialist at Oklahoma State University, in his weekly market comments.
As noted in the last issue of Cattle Current, placements in feedlots with more than 1,000 head capacity were 7.36% more than the previous year at 2.07 million head, according to Friday’s Cattle on Feed report.
“Increased August placements largely consisted of cattle under 700 lbs., with the under-600 lb. category up 19.4% year over year and cattle placed weighing 600-700 lbs. up 17.5% compared to last year,” Peel says. “In the last four months, placements of cattle under 700 lbs. has been up 13.2% year over year, while placements weighing over 700 lbs. were down 1.0% year over year. Lightweight feedlot placements likely include lighter-weight steer placements, as well as continued high proportions of heifers in the feedlot total. Heifers are typically placed 50-100 lbs. lighter in weight compared to steers.”
Although total cattle slaughter is 3.2% more so far this year, Peel notes heifer slaughter is 8.3% higher for the year to date.
“However, heifer slaughter is expected to show much smaller year-over-year increases in the fourth quarter, thereby moderating the annual increase,” Peel explains. “Beef cow slaughter is 11.4% larger year over year so far this year. Dairy cow slaughter continues to inch higher and is up 4.5% so far this year. Steer slaughter continues below year-ago levels and is down 0.8% year over year for the year to date. Steer slaughter will likely increase some relative to last year and result in an annual total slightly larger than last year.”