Cattle Close Mixed on Friday

The front month cattle futures fell by 5 to 15 cents across the front months and 25 cents in the back months. That left the Feb contract at a net weekly loss of 82 cents. Friday’s cash sales were from $170-$172, leaving the bulk of action near $171 for the week. Feeder cattle were $0.97 to $1.07 lower across the front months. That left the Jan contract at a net weekly $1.85 gain. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was a penny stronger to $219.81. 

The monthly Cattle on Feed report showed 12.006 million head of cattle were in 1,000+ head capacity feedlots on 12/1. That was a 2.7% increase from last year’s Dec 1 count, as the trade was looking for a 2.2% increase on average. Placements were listed at 1.868 million head, a 1.9% decrease yr/yr compared to the 3.8% expected. Nov marketings were 1.751m head, a 7.4% decrease compared to the 6.7% estimate. 

USDA’s Wholesale Boxed Beef prices for Friday afternoon were $1.80 higher in Choice and $0.12 weaker in Select. The weekly update from USDA showed beef production fell 4.1% for the week and 4.6% compared to the same week last year – with 524m lbs. The week’s cattle slaughter was 621k head for a yearly total of 31.737 million head. That compares to 552k head for the same week last year and 33.122 million for ‘22s YTD kill. 

Dec 23 Cattle  closed at $170.050, down $0.500,

Feb 24 Cattle  closed at $168.525, down $0.150,

Apr 24 Cattle  closed at $172.125, down $0.050,

Jan 24 Feeder Cattle  closed at $222.750, up $1.050

Mar 24 Feeder Cattle  closed at $224.400, up $1.025

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.