Live cattle futures rose significantly, with contracts closing between 27 cents and $2 higher; April futures increased by $5.57 for the week. Cash trade saw early week transactions at $246 in the South and approximately $250 in the North. Feeder cattle futures also gained, closing with increases of $1.62 to $2.32 on Friday.
As of April 7, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) reported managed money held a net long position of 133,265 contracts in live cattle futures, up 9,523 contracts from the previous week. In feeder cattle futures, speculators increased their net long to 20,202 contracts with a modest addition of 91 contracts.
Meanwhile, wholesale Boxed Beef prices decreased, with Choice boxes dropping by 19 cents to $380.90 and Select boxes declining by 23 cents to $381.34. The USDA estimated the federally inspected cattle slaughter at 512,000 head this week, a reduction of 21,000 from last week and 41,972 fewer than the same week last year.
