Live cattle futures fell by 32 cents to $1.27 on Monday, with cash trade recorded at $248 nationwide. Feeder cattle futures also dropped, closing down $2.45 to $4.37. The CME Feeder Cattle Index decreased by $1.98 to $375.69.
The USDA reported that March placements were down 7.67% year-over-year at 1.709 million head, while marketings fell by 5.5% to 1.62 million head. As of April 1, there were 11.576 million head on feed, down 0.53% from last year, with heifers on feed at 4.32 million, a decrease of 1.37%.
On Monday, wholesale boxed beef prices saw mixed results, with Choice boxes up $2.50 to $383.56 and Select boxes increasing by $7.01 to $383.61. USDA estimated that federally inspected cattle slaughter reached 97,000 head, 7,000 lower than the previous week and 6,945 below the same week last year.
