At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, live cattle closed lower, watching the direct markets, and feeders were higher on the drop in corn. August live cattle closed $1.05 lower at $133.87 and October live cattle closed $1.07 lower at $140. August feeder cattle closed $1.70 higher at $174.85 and September feeder cattle closed $1.55 higher at $176.85.
Thursday was a relatively active day for direct cash cattle trade. Deals were at mostly $234, $4 higher than last week’s weighted average basis in Nebraska. A few regional deals have been noted at $238. Many of those are marked for delivery in July. Some live deals in the North were marked at $145 to $147 and $150. The South was quiet following the light trade that took place on Tuesday and Wednesday at $138, about $2 lower than last week’s weighted averages.
At the Mitchell Livestock Auction in South Dakota, compared to last week feeder steers 850 to 1000 pounds were steady to $1 higher and a higher undertone was noted on steers over 1000 pounds. Feeder heifers 800 to 1000 pounds were steady to $4 higher. The USDA says demand was good with most cattle going in large load lots. Receipts were down on the week and the year. Feeder supply included 57% steers and 98% off the offering was over 600 pounds. Medium and Large 1 feeder steers 920 pounds brought $163.25 to $164.60 and feeder steers 956 to 997 pounds brought $157.50 to $165.75. Medium and Large 1 feeder heifers 874 to 888 pounds brought $153.85 to $154.25 and feeder heifers 901 to 932 pounds brought $147.75 to $151.85.
Boxed beef was lower at midday on light demand for moderate offerings. Choice is $1.91 lower at $264.66 and Select is $1.05 lower at $244.94. The Choice/Select spread is $19.72. Estimated cattle slaughter 122,000 head – down 5,000 on the week and up 4,000 on the year.
Lean hog futures ended the day lower ahead of cold storage numbers. July lean hogs closed $3.30 lower at $108.55 and August lean hogs closed $4.65 lower at $103.67.
