Fed cattle in the Southern Plains and Western Cornbelt has been inactive so far on Wednesday. In the Northern Plains trading has been limited on light demand. Not enough sales activity, in any feeding region, for an adequate market trend.

Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar today said the Department of the Interior would implement measures designed to more quickly permit renewable energy projects in the form of solar and wind projects on federal public lands controlled by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and other agencies.

In Oklahoma City, OK, this week, feeder steers and heifers were steady to $2 higher than the previous week. Demand was called very good for feeder cattle, with second grade cattle selling with very little discount to number one grade. Steer and heifer calves were steady to $2 higher on a light test.

USDA shocked the grain markets Tuesday, reporting that planted acreage this year has reached 87 million acres, the second-largest amount of acreage planted behind 2007's crop and 1 million acres more than the agency forecast in March.

U.S. beef exports are expected to decline about 8 percent in 2009 to 1.744 billion pounds, USDA predicted in its Livestock, Dairy, Poultry Outlook report. Weak foreign demand and a stronger U.S. dollar are weighing on exports, with beef exports to Mexico down 19 percent and exports to Canada down 15 percent from a year ago.