Steers and heifers sold steady to $5/cwt. lower last week, although there were instances of steady to $4 higher for cattle suited to summer grazing, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS).
Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of $1.54 lower across the front half of the board, week to week on Friday and then an average of 29¢ lower.
“Feeder cattle futures have been on a steady decline the past three weeks with losses on most contracts ranging from $6 to $9 during that time period,” says Andrew P. Griffith, agricultural economist at the University of Tennessee, in his weekly market comments. “It appears the market is in a bit of a correction mode as Feeder cattle futures contracts have been tracing their steps back to early January lows. The next big question is if the market will continue tracing its steps to the December low. There is no way to tell at this time how low prices will go, but there is strong support at the December lows.”
Griffith points out the market between calves and feeder cattle is beginning to diverge.
“Though yearling cattle prices are higher than the start of the year, the market has started to slow with increased cattle on feed numbers and increased beef production. It may be the third quarter of the year before significant price support is witnessed in the feeder cattle market,” Griffith says.
Cash fed cattle trade for the week was mainly steady at mostly $126-$127/cwt. on a live basis and at mostly $204 in the beef.
After 95¢ higher in spot Apr, Live Cattle futures closed mixed week to week on Friday, from an average of 24¢ lower to an average of 71¢ higher.
“Packer margins are very good and the incentive should be there to pick up the slaughter pace and procure fed cattle,” AMS analysts explain. “Beef demand has been excellent but remains a critical factor going forward as more market-ready cattle become available for the April to June time period.”
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $1.62 higher week to week on Friday at $224.14/cwt. Select was $2.62 higher at $217.26.
“Spot market beef prices have been the highlight of the cattle industry the past few weeks,” Griffith says. “The market has certainly started showing some of the signs of grilling demand, but better yet, the market has been showing signs of strong beef demand. The strong beef demand is not only coming from the domestic market but also from the international market as exports continue to be strong. Not only did beef export volume increase (January), beef export value increased 21% compared to the same month last year and totaled $624.4 million.”
Friday to Friday Change*
Weekly Auction Receipts
|
Receipts Mar. 09 |
Auction (head) (Change) |
Direct (head) (Change) |
Video/net (head) (Change) |
Total (head) (Change) |
|
249,300 (+21,500) |
68,500 (+24,300) |
22,000 (+21,700) |
339,800 (+67,500) |
CME Feeder Index
| CME Feeder Index | Mar. 8 | Change |
| $144.18 | – 1.85 |
*Thursday-to Thursday for CME Feeder Index
Cash Stocker and Feeder
North Central
| Steers-Cash | Mar. 9 | Change |
| 600-700 lbs. | $173.04 | – $0.06 |
| 700-800 lbs. | $153.81 | – $1.11 |
| 800-900 lbs. | $143.30 | – $0.06 |
South Central
| Steers-Cash | Mar. 9 | Change |
| 500-600 lbs. | $180.13 | – $0.76 |
| 600-700 lbs. | $163.81 | + $0.16 |
| 700-800 lbs. | $147.63 | + $0.34 |
Southeast
| Steers-Cash | Mar. 9 | Change |
| 400-500 lbs. | $179.08 | – $4.65 |
| 500-600 lbs. | $165.48 | – $3.45 |
| 600-700 lbs. | $151.37 | – $2.52 |
(AMS National Weekly Feeder & Stocker Cattle Summary)
Wholesale Beef Value
| Boxed Beef (p.m.) | Mar. 9 ($/cwt) | Change |
| Choice | $224.14 | + $1.62 |
| Select | $217.26 | + $2.62 |
| Ch-Se Spread | $6.88 | – $1.00 |
Futures
| Feeder Cattle | Mar. 9 | Change |
| Mar | $142.525 | – $1.150 |
| Apr | $143.150 | – $2.125 |
| May | $144.650 | – $1.875 |
| Aug | $149.750 | – $1.025 |
| Sep | $150.625 | – $0.550 |
| Oct | $150.550 | – $0.350 |
| Nov | $150.000 | – $0.075 |
| Jan ’19 | $145.050 | – $0.175 |
| Live Cattle | Mar. 9 | Change |
| Apr | $123.125 | + $0.950 |
| Jun | $114.300 | – $0.100 |
| Aug | $111.650 | – $0.450 |
| Oct | $114.400 | – $0.250 |
| Dec | $117.500 | + $0.575 |
| Feb ’19 | $118.400 | + $0.850 |
| Apr | $118.350 | + $0.975 |
| Jun | $111.675 | + $0.450 |
| Aug | $109.875 | – $0.175 |
| Corn futures | Mar. 9 | Change |
| Mar | $3.830 | + $0.058 |
| May | $3.904 | + $0.052 |
| Jul | $3.980 | + $0.056 |
| Sep | $4.024 | + $0.048 |
| Dec | $4.072 | + $0.030 |
| Mar ’19 | $4.136 | + $0.024 |
| Oil CME-WTI | Mar. 9 | Change |
| Apr | $62.04 | + $0.79 |
| May | $61.92 | + $0.83 |
| Jun | $61.69 | + $0.91 |
| Jul | $61.33 | + $0.97 |
| Aug | $60.89 | + $1.02 |
| Sep | $60.42 | + $1.06 |
Equities
| Equity Indexes | Mar. 9 | Change |
| Dow Industrial Average | 25335.74 | + 797.68 |
| NASDAQ | 7560.81 | + 302.94 |
| S&P 500 | 2786.57 | + 95.32 |
| Dollar (DXY) | 90.18 | + 0.20 |