Cattle Close March with Losses

Live cattle futures closed out Monday with contracts falling 60 cents to $1.20. Cash trade was mostly compiling showlists today, with last week’s action settling in steady from the previous week at $209-210 in the South and $213-214 in the North. Dressed trade was $335-345 in the North.

Feeder cattle futures closed Monday with steady to 67 cent lower trade. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back up $4.74 on March 28, with the average price at $291.50. The weekly OKC feeder cattle auction has an estimated 5,000 head for sale, above the same week last year but shy of last week. Sales were reported steady to $5 lower for steers and firm to $5 higher for heifers.

The Monday afternoon National Wholesale Boxed Beef report from USDA was higher, as the Chc/Sel widened back out to $15.25. Choice boxes were up $2.44 at $335.26/cwt, with Select up $1.33 to $320.01. Monday’s Federally inspected cattle slaughter was estimated at 104,000 head by USDA. That was 15,000 head below the previous Monday and down 4,286 head from the same week last year.

Apr 25 Live Cattle  closed at $207.800, down $1.025,

Jun 25 Live Cattle  closed at $203.650, down $1.200,

Aug 25 Live Cattle  closed at $200.025, down $0.975,

Apr 25 Feeder Cattle  closed at $286.450, down $0.475,

May 25 Feeder Cattle  closed at $284.500, down $0.675,

Aug 25 Feeder Cattle  closed at $289.500, down $0.175,

On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.