Wednesday markets
Markets were unable to find much momentum today, although the seasonally high price of beef is back climbing higher.
Live cattle futures saw some slight upward movement today. The August contract gained 15 cents to $123.07 and the October contract gained 10 cents to $128.52.
Cash trade was light, with 5,188 head exchanging hands. Live steers sold between $116-123 and averaged $119.17 and dressed steers sold for $195. On the formula side, a total of 24,500 head averaging 856 lbs. sold for $195.29.
The Fed Cattle Exchange offered 7,773 head today, of which 1,085 head sold (436 heifers, 649 steers). Steers averaged $119.78 and heifers averaged $119.14. Texas/Oklahoma/New Mexico offered the brunt of the listings and sold all 1,085 successful lots.
Slaughter for the day is projected at 120,000 head, bringing the week’s total so far to 358,000 head. This is sharply higher than the same time last week by about 9,000 head.
Boxed beef prices jumped today on 136 loads. The Choice cutout gained $3.43 to $273.16 and the Select cutout increased $2.18 to $256.12.
“This cutout strength is supporting an expansion of packer’s already record margins for July,” wrote Cassie Fish, market analyst, in The Beef. “The real question is can cattle feeders claw back some of the money they have missed out on for a very long time, and if so when?”
Feeder cattle
Feeders saw some red today. The August contract lost 52 cents to $160.17 and the September contract lost 55 cents to $163.45. The CME Feeder Cattle Index gained 39 cents to close at $154.36.
“The feeder cattle and corn markets have quarreled Wednesday morning as both aspire to trade higher,” reported ShayLe Stewart, DTN livestock analyst, in her midday comments. “Breaking into Wednesday’s trade, the corn market held the advantage as the feeder cattle contracts were leery upon corn’s advancement and upon not having seen any developments being made in the cash cattle market.”
Corn prices have traded generally steady over the past few days. The September contract gained 4 cents to $5.49 and the December contract gained 2 cents to also close at $5.49
South Dakota: Philip Livestock Auction in Philip sold 3,657 head Tuesday. Due to seasonally low supply, a recent market comparison was unavailable. However, there was very good demand for several long strings, load lots and many packages of feeders that sold on a strong, active market. Benchmark steers averaging 767 lbs. sold between $165.50-167.25, and averaged $166.86. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
