Cattle futures lower ahead of direct business

At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, live and feeder cattle were lower, waiting on the week’s direct business to develop. June live closed $1.20 lower at $213,92 and August live cattle closed $1.12 lower at $208.17. August feeder cattle closed $2.52 lower at $295.62 and September feeder cattle closed $2.77 lower at $294.47.

Direct cash cattle trade was relatively quiet on Wednesday. Bids surfaced in Kansas at $220 live and in Nebraska at $365 dressed. A few asking prices were noted at $222 live in parts of Texas, but the rest of cattle country was quiet. Significant trade volume will likely be delayed until the latter half of the week.

At the Ozarks Regional Stockyards in Missouri, feeder steers and heifers were steady. Steer and heifer calves were steady to weak. The USDA says demand was moderate on a very light supply. Receipts were down significantly on the week and down on the year. Feeder supply included 54 percent steers and 45 percent of the offering was more than 600 pounds. Medium and Large 1 feeder steers 502 to 538 pounds brought $380 to $405 and feeder steers 884 pounds brought $275. Medium and Large 1 feeder heifers 640 to 648 pounds brought $303 to $311 and feeder heifers 667 to 676 pounds brought $300 to $304.

Boxed beef closed sharply higher and higher with solid demand for decent offerings. Choice is $3.57 higher at $365.42 and Select was $.91 higher at $351.74. The Choice/Select spread is $13.68. Estimated cattle slaughter was 119,000 head – down 1,000 on the week and down more than 5,000 on the year.