Live cattle futures closed higher on Wednesday, with contracts gaining between 17 to 72 cents. Cash trade saw cattle selling at $232 per head so far this week, with bids reported at $233. The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction recorded no sales for 1,228 head, with bids at $230 live and $355 in the beef. Feeder cattle futures also increased, with gains ranging from $0.45 to $1.70 across various contracts.
The USDA’s Wednesday morning Boxed Beef report indicated rising wholesale prices, with Choice boxes up $1.35 to $366.11 and Select boxes increasing by $2.61 to $362.45. The estimated federally inspected cattle slaughter for Wednesday was 114,000 head, bringing the weekly total to 333,000, which is 19,000 head lower than last week and 24,949 head fewer than the same period last year.
