Cattle Firm Up For Close

Front month cattle futures finished off the lows on Wednesday and ended the day in the black. The April contract saw a range from -82 cents to +78 cents. Feeders were 87 to 95 cents higher at the close. USDA had no cash business for the week through Wednesday. Cash trade remained light last week, with some sales near $172-$173. The weekly OKC auction was closed this week citing winter storms. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was 56 cents lower on 1/16 to $225.87.  

Bloomberg survey respondents expect NASS to show a 2.2% larger Jan 1 herd for 1,000+ head feedlots on Friday. That implies 11.93m head if realized. December placements are expected to be between 8.5% to 2% below Dec ’22 with the average at -4.5%. Dec marketings are expected to be down by 0.7% in the CoF report. 

The Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were $3.46 stronger in Choice and were $3.04 higher for Select. USDA estimated FI cattle slaughter for the week at 341k head, compared to 304k last week and 375k during the same week last year. 

Feb 24 Cattle  closed at $173.100, down $0.025,

Apr 24 Cattle  closed at $175.625, up $0.450,

Jun 24 Cattle  closed at $172.800, up $0.625,

Jan 24 Feeder Cattle  closed at $228.425, up $0.875

Mar 24 Feeder Cattle  closed at $229.775, up $0.950