Live cattle futures increased by 40 cents to $1.725 by midday on Monday, with cash trade last week reporting sales between $230-233 in the North and $223-225 in the South. Feeder cattle futures also saw gains of $2.30 to $2.55, with the CME Feeder Cattle Index rising by 58 cents to $311.97. An estimated 5,000 head were on offer at Monday’s weekly OKC feeder cattle auction.
USDA Wholesale Boxed Beef prices increased, with Choice boxes rising by 10 cents to $396.59 and Select up 65 cents to $383.58/cwt. Last week’s federally inspected cattle slaughter was estimated at 560,000 head, consistent with the previous week but down 50,420 head from the same week last year. Speculative traders in live cattle futures and options reduced their net long position to 132,893 contracts as of June 24th.
