Live cattle futures surged to record highs, closing up $1.55 to $3.40 on the day, with June contracts increasing by $10.82 this week. Cash trade ranged between $230-232 in the South and peaked at $235, while North trade was mostly $240-242, reaching $244 in some locations. Feeder cattle futures experienced more modest gains, closing up 82 cents to $1, with August futures up $11.32 this week.
As of June 3rd, large managed money speculators in live cattle futures added 512 contracts to their net long position, totaling 131,805 contracts. Managed money was net long 34,827 contracts as of Tuesday, a record increase of 1,569 contracts during the week. The USDA reported a federally inspected cattle slaughter of 582,000 head this week, down 27,797 from the same week last year.
Key futures prices included: June Live Cattle at $226.300, August Live Cattle at $218.875, and October Live Cattle at $215.525. For feeder cattle, August closed at $310.150, September at $309.125, and October at $306.900.
