Live cattle futures rose between $1.60 and $2.52 on Friday, with February futures increasing by $2.75 over the week. Cash trade prices ranged from $233 to $236.50 for live cattle, while dressed values were at $370. Feeder cattle futures also gained, with January futures up $2.87 for the week, closing at $364.80.
The Cattle on Feed report revealed that December placements were down 5.38% year-over-year, totaling 1.554 million head. Marketings increased 1.78% to 1.773 million head, and as of January 1, the on-feed count was 11.45 million head, down 3.15% from the previous year. Meanwhile, Cold Storage data indicated a 3.51% decrease in beef stocks, bringing total inventories as of December 31 to 437.46 million lbs, the lowest December total since 2009.
According to the USDA’s beef report, Choice boxes were up $1.47 to $368.92, with a widening Chc/Sel spread of $6.53. The estimated federally inspected cattle slaughter this week was 535,000 head, down 27,000 from the previous week and 58,858 below the same week last year.
