Live cattle futures slipped lower on Wednesday, with losses of a dime to 67 cents. June cattle are in deliveries, but none have been served, with the oldest long in line dated November 7, 2023. Cash trade activity so far has mostly consisted of collecting show lists, with a few bids at $185 reported in KS. The Central Stockyards Fed Cattle Exchange had a few sales reported this morning, with $186 on the hoof in TX, and a few more $188-188.50 in TX using their BidTheGrid™ method.
Feeder cattle futures were down 7 to 50 cents across the board to close out Wednesday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up 35 cents on June 11 at $253.74.
The 2024 projected beef production was trimmed by just 5 million lbs to 26.595 billion in this month’s WASDE. That was mainly due to a larger second half production offsetting a cut in Q2. Projected production for 2025 was raised by 145 million lbs on the month to 25.365 billion.
USDA’s Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were lower in the Wednesday afternoon report. Choice boxes were back down 61 cents at $317.76 per 60, with Select $1.69 lower at $298.93. The Chc/Select spread has widened out to $18.67. USDA estimated daily FI slaughter for Wednesday was 123,000 head, taking the weekly total to 367,000 head. That matches the previous week but is 9,757 head below the same week last year.
Jun 24 Live Cattle closed at $183.650, down $0.100,
Aug 24 Live Cattle closed at $178.325, down $0.600,
Oct 24 Live Cattle closed at $181.050, down $0.675,
Aug 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $257.575, down $0.075,
Sep 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $258.475, down $0.200,
Oct 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $258.850, down $0.375,
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