Cattle Close Mixed on Monday

Live cattle saw mixed trade on Monday with most contracts within 27 cents on either side of unchanged. Last week’s cash cattle trade centered around $188 in the South, with northern trade at $198. Monday saw most compiling showlists. Feeder cattle were propped up by a weaker corn market, as contracts were anywhere from 12 cents to 92 cents higher. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up 84 cents on July 12 at $261.88. Monday’s OKC feeder cattle auction showed 6,300 head of calves sold, up nearly 2,000 head from last week. Prices were noted as $4-8 lower, with demand as moderate.

Pasture conditions were listed at 41%, a drop of 3% from the week previous. That was a 307 rating on the Brugler500 index (using all 5 USDA ratings), an 11-point drop from last week. An average of the major beef cow states shows a 9-point reduction to 340.

USDA wholesale Boxed Beef prices were mixed in the Monday PM report. Choice boxes were back down 57 cents to $321.49/cwt, with Select $2.51 higher at $304.82. USDA estimated Monday’s FI slaughter at 118,000 head. That 6,000 head over the same day last week and was 1,532 head below the same Monday last year.

Aug 24 Live Cattle  closed at $182.125, down $0.250,

Oct 24 Live Cattle  closed at $183.800, down $0.275,

Dec 24 Live Cattle  closed at $185.650, up $0.175,

Aug 24 Feeder Cattle  closed at $258.775, up $0.125,

Sep 24 Feeder Cattle  closed at $258.900, up $0.800,

Oct 24 Feeder Cattle  closed at $258.475, up $0.925,

On the date of publication, Alan Brugler 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.