Cattle, hog futures sharply lower at midweek

Cattle, hog futures sharply lower at midweek

At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, live and feeder cattle were sharply lower ahead of the week’s direct business with additional pressure from the lower boxed beef. Just live cattle closed $2 lower at $172.85 and August lives closed $1.90 lower at $170.65.  May feeder cattle closed $2.92 lower at $236.52 and August feeder cattle closed $2.50 lower at $247.60.

Direct cash cattle trade activity was quiet Wednesday.  Bids surfaced at $184 to $185 live in the North.