Live cattle futures have seen an increase of $2 to $2.50 during Wednesday’s midday trading session. However, cash trade remains light this week. In the Wednesday morning Central Stockyards Fed Cattle Exchange online auction, no sales occurred among the 1,628 head offered, with bids ranging between $202 and $205. Meanwhile, feeder cattle prices rallied between $1.37 and $2.35 on Wednesday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index rose by 91 cents to $288.07 on April 14.

On Wednesday morning, National Wholesale Boxed Beef prices dropped, narrowing the spread between Choice and Select beef to $19.27. Choice boxes fell by $1.37 to $334.06 per hundredweight (cwt), while Select decreased by 45 cents to $314.79. The estimated Federally inspected cattle slaughter on Tuesday was reported at 122,000 head, bringing the weekly total to 234,000. This figure is 8,000 head higher than the previous week but down 9,928 head compared to the same week last year.

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Current Live Cattle Futures:

Apr 25 Live Cattle: $207.300, up $2.500

Jun 25 Live Cattle: $202.325, up $2.525

Aug 25 Live Cattle: $199.125, up $2.275

Current Feeder Cattle Futures:

Apr 25 Feeder Cattle: $290.750, up $1.375

May 25 Feeder Cattle: $284.850, up $2.325

Aug 25 Feeder Cattle: $290.075, up $1.825

On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not hold any positions, either directly or indirectly, in any of the mentioned securities. All information and data in this article are for informational purposes only. For more details, please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.

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