On Wednesday, live cattle futures experienced steady trading, closing with losses of up to 60 cents. Cash trade remained inactive, with a reported price of $233 and no sales from the Fed Cattle Exchange online auction, which listed 1,652 head and had bids between $221 and $225. Feeder cattle futures saw slight gains of 5 to 15 cents, while the CME Feeder Cattle Index rose by 27 cents to $310.60.
The USDA reported beef stocks at 407.786 million pounds at the end of May, reflecting a decrease of 2.73% from the prior month and 1.18% from the previous year. National Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were mixed, with Choice boxes up 69 cents at $394.94 and Select boxes down $6.12 at $376.29. The estimated federally inspected cattle slaughter for Wednesday was 118,000 head, bringing the week’s total to 347,000, which is 13,000 head above the previous week but 5,691 head below last year.
