Despite building pressure on Cattle futures toward the end of the week, cash prices were mainly steady to higher across the cattle complex.
At auction and via direct trade, analysts with the Agricultural marketing Service (AMS) said steers and heifers traded steady to $5/cwt. higher.
“Demand was good to very good for all classes of cattle, even with many calves coming through the ring right off the cow,” AMS analysts said. They added that farmer-feeders made their presence felt at auctions from the Northern Plains to the Southern Plains, with harvest nearly complete and their focus turning toward adding value to corn and wheat.
Except for 50¢ lower in the back contract, Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of $2.91 lower week to week on Friday ($1.25 to $3.50 lower).
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade for the week was generally steady to $1-$3 higher at $120-$121/cwt. on a live basis. Dressed prices were mostly steady to $2 higher at $190.
Live Cattle futures closed an average of $2.07 lower week to week on Friday ($1.35 to $2.60 lower).
“Feedyards continue to market cattle in a timely fashion to keep the front-end supply in check,” AMS analysts explained. “Fed cattle harvests have been aggressive this summer and fall as both international and domestic demand for beef fueled packer profitability for over six months now.”
Wholesale beef values lost some steam, though. Choice boxed beef cutout value was $5 lower week to week on Friday at $205.99. Select was $4.24 lower at $183.61.
“The expectation would be for the Choice cutout to be well supported through holiday purchasing and with some of the restocking of meat counters,” says Andrew P. Griffith, agricultural economist at the University of Tennessee, in his weekly market comments. “However, no surge in Choice prices was evident this past week as prices faltered significantly. It is doubtful packers are concerned at this point as there are still a couple of weeks in which retailers and food service entities can make spot market purchases. Once holiday purchasing is complete, the focus will shift from middle meats to end meats, which will result in a narrowing of the Choice-Select spread. The concern here is if Choice beef or Select beef will do the majority of the moving.”
Friday to Friday Change*
Weekly Auction Receipts
|
Receipts Dec. 01 |
Auction (head) (Change) |
Direct (head) (Change) |
Video/net (head) (Change) |
Total (head) (Change) |
|
257,400 (+167,600) |
28,500 (+17,100) |
20,200 (+19,600) |
306,100 (+204,200) |
CME Feeder Index
| CME Feeder Index | Nov. 30 | Change |
| $157.20 | + $1.62 |
*Thursday-to Thursday for CME Feeder Index
Cash Stocker and Feeder
North Central
| Steers-Cash | Dec. 01 | Change |
| 600-700 lbs. | $173.37 | + $9.55 |
| 700-800 lbs. | $164.59 | + $5.79 |
| 800-900 lbs. | $157.26 | + $6.62 |
South Central
| Steers-Cash | Dec. 01 | Change |
| 500-600 lbs. | $168.85 | + $4.26 |
| 600-700 lbs. | $160.41 | + $5.59 |
| 700-800 lbs. | $156.04 | + $2.30 |
| 800-900 lbs. | $156.95 | + $1.82 |
Southeast
| Steers-Cash | Dec. 01 | Change |
| 400-500 lbs. | $163.66 | + $9.69 |
| 500-600 lbs. | $153.38 | + $4.74 |
| 600-700 lbs. | $146.14 | – $0.12 |
(AMS National Weekly Feeder & Stocker Cattle Summary)
Wholesale Beef Value
| Boxed Beef (p.m.) | Dec. 01 ($/cwt) | Change |
| Choice | $205.99 | – $5.00 |
| Select | $183.61 | – $4.24 |
| Ch-Se Spread | $22.38 | – $0.76 |
Futures
| Feeder Cattle | Dec. 01 | Change |
| Jan ’18 | $150.325 | – $2.975 |
| Mar | $148.025 | – $3.150 |
| Apr | $148.150 | – $3.425 |
| May | $147.425 | – $3.450 |
| Aug | $149.300 | – $3.500 |
| Sep | $148.525 | – $2.600 |
| Oct | $148.100 | – $1.250 |
| Nov | $147.150 | – $0.500 |
| Live Cattle | Dec. 01 | Change |
| Dec | $117.225 | – $1.350 |
| Feb ’18 | $121.975 | – $2.600 |
| Apr | $123.025 | – $2.225 |
| Jun | $115.775 | – $2.450 |
| Aug | $112.650 | – $2.150 |
| Oct | $112.500 | – $2.050 |
| Dec | $113.850 | – $1.975 |
| Feb ’19 | $114.625 | – $1.925 |
| Apr | $114.250 | – $1.900 |
| Corn futures | Dec. 01 | Change |
| Dec | $3.446 | + $0.024 |
| Mar ’18 | $3.586 | + $0.036 |
| May | $3.664 | + $0.032 |
| Jul | $3.744 | + $0.032 |
| Sep | $3.814 | + $0.030 |
| Dec | $3.896 | + $0.022 |
| Oil CME-WTI | Dec. 01 | Change |
| Jan 18 | $58.36 | – $0.59 |
| Feb | $58.38 | – $0.53 |
| Mar | $58.31 | – $0.42 |
| Apr | $58.17 | – $0.31 |
| May | $57.95 | – $0.22 |
| June | $57.66 | – $0.15 |
Equities
| Equity Indexes | Dec. 01 | Change |
| Dow Industrial Average | 24231.59 | + 673.60 |
| NASDAQ | 6847.59 | – 41.57 |
| S&P 500 | 2642.22 | + 39.80 |
| Dollar (DXY) | 92.89 | + 0.14 |