Live cattle futures ended lower on April 26, with losses ranging from 40 cents to $1.32. The April live cattle closed at $246.850. In early cash trade, prices were about $246 across the country, but no sales occurred at the Fed Cattle Exchange for the 1,226 head offered. Feeder cattle futures showed a slight gain of 22 cents for the April contract, while other contracts dropped between 7 to 50 cents.
Wholesale boxed beef prices also declined, with choice boxes falling $1.99 to $384.19 and select boxes down $3.87 to $383.33. The USDA reported an estimated federally inspected cattle slaughter of 111,000 head on Wednesday, bringing the week’s total to 319,000 head—down 6,000 from last week and 26,373 from the same week last year.
