Live cattle futures experienced a decline on Wednesday, with contracts down between 20 to 95 cents. The Fed Cattle Exchange reported no sales from the 1,024 head offered, with bids ranging from $233 to $235 live. The CME Feeder Cattle Index increased by 19 cents to $361.78 on March 24, while feeder cattle futures saw mixed results.
Cold storage data released on Tuesday indicated that beef stocks hit 413.34 million lbs as of February 28, the lowest level since 2014. USDA estimated the federally inspected cattle slaughter at 103,000 head on Wednesday, bringing the weekly total to 315,000 head—an increase of 7,000 head from the previous week but down nearly 50,000 head from the same period last year.
