
Reaction to the Semi-Annual Cattle Inventory report left the live cattle futures market 35 to 80 cents in the red. Feeders dropped by triple digits in the reaction, with March giving back 1.56% on the day. USDA saw no cash trade for the week through Wednesday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was 5 cents weaker on 1/31 at $180.37.
The semi-annual NASS cattle inventory counted 89.274m head on Jan 1. That was a 3% drop from last year’s inventory. Beef cows were 4% lower yr/yr with 28.92m head, but replacement heifers were down by a sharp 5.8% yr/yr to 5.164m head. The calf crop was reported at 34.464 million head compared to 35.166 last year.
Wholesale Boxed Beef prices from Wednesday’s PM report had Choice $1.02 weaker and Select 14 cents weaker for a Chc/Sel spread of $12.29. USDA estimated FI cattle slaughter at 375k head for the week through Wednesday, which is down by 3k head from last week’s pace and remains 13k head above the same week last year.
Feb 23 Cattle closed at $158.425, down $0.425,
Apr 23 Cattle closed at $162.225, down $0.800,
Jun 23 Cattle closed at $158.700, down $0.450,
Mar 23 Feeder Cattle closed at $183.250, down $2.900
Apr 23 Feeder Cattle closed at $187.950, down $2.100
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.