Cattle Traders Look to Thursday Trade to React to Confirmed Screwworm Case

Live cattle futures ended the Wednesday session with contracts down $1.05 to $2.42 on the day. The market will open at 8:30 CDT. Open interest on Wednesday dropped 1,963 contracts. Cash trade started this week at $255, creeping up to $256 on Wednesday afternoon. The Wednesday Fed Cattle Exchange showed sales of $257 on 70 of the 1,256 head offered, with other bids of $250-254. Feeder cattle futures fell $4.65 to $5.85 across most contracts on Wednesday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was down another 12 cents on June 1 to $364.14.

Late on Wednesday evening, the USDA confirmed a case of the New World Screwworm in South Texas after testing a suspected case in a 3-week old cale in Zavala county. It’s important to remember there are should be on food safety concerns associated with the screwworm.

Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were mixed in the Wednesday afternoon report, with the Chc/Sel spread at $11.43. Choice boxes were up $1.79 to $395.86, while Select was 38 cents lower at $384.43. USDA estimated federally inspected cattle slaughter for Wednesday at 109,000 head, with the weekly total at 323,000 head. That was down 34,248 head from the same week last year. 

Jun 26 Live Cattle  closed at $246.625, down $1.050,

Aug 26 Live Cattle  closed at $237.850, down $1.800,

Oct 26 Live Cattle  closed at $229.000, down $1.875,

Aug 26 Feeder Cattle  closed at $342.625, down $5.800,

Sep 26 Feeder Cattle  closed at $339.325, down $5.800,

Oct 26 Feeder Cattle  closed at $335.900, down $5.850,