On Monday, live cattle futures declined by 5 to 15 cents, with contracts for April 25 at $209.725, down $0.100. Last week’s cash trade recorded prices at $208-210 in the South and $212-214 in the North, up $4-6 from the previous week. Feeder cattle also dropped, losing $1.30 to $1.50, with May futures at $285.525, down $1.325.
The USDA’s Cattle on Feed report showed that March placements rose by 5.08% year-over-year to 1.841 million head, while marketings increased by 1.05% to 1.725 million head. The April 1 cattle on feed inventory was down 1.59% to 11.638 million head, with 4.38 million head of heifers making up 37.64% of the total, the lowest proportion in five years. Federally inspected cattle slaughter last week was estimated at 576,000 head, which is 12,000 more than the previous week but down 41,843 from the same week last year.
