Cattle Current Podcast—April 4, 2022

Grain markets Friday continued to adjust to the previous day’s Prospective Plantings report.

Soybean futures closed 5¢ to 35¢ lower across the board on more planted acres than expected.

New-crop Corn futures mostly gained again Friday, mostly 4¢ to 7¢ higher on fewer anticipated acres.

Rising feed costs once again helped pressure Feeder Cattle futures an average of $1.61 lower, except for 18¢ higher in spot April.

Cash calves and feeder cattle sold mixed last week, based on weekly auctions monitored by Cattle Current — mainly higher early, driven by demand for grass-suited cattle and then with more pressure later in the week with another bounce higher in Corn and full-to-the-brim feedlots.

“Feedlots will have plenty of cattle to market for another few months, but tighter placements are ahead and feedlot production will decline in the second half of the year, says Derrell Peel, Extension livestock marketing specialist at Oklahoma State University, in his weekly market comments. “If drought conditions persist, feedlots may perhaps continue to borrow against the future with early-weaned calves available through the spring and summer before facing the full reality of tighter feeder cattle supplies. On the other hand, if drought conditions abate, higher cattle prices might result in increased heifer retention by the end of the year, thereby squeezing feeder supplies even more and more quickly.”