Limits are expanded to $10.75 for live cattle and 13.75 for feeders on Thursday. Live cattle futures closed the Wednesday session with contracts down $4.62 to $6. Preliminary open interest was up just 334 contracts. Cash trade saw some light action in the north on Wednesday at $239-240. The Wednesday morning Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed no sales on the 1,646 head offered with bids at $238. Feeder cattle futures were $7.85 lower in the October contracts, with the rest of the board down the limit. Preliminary open interest was down 944 contracts, suggesting some long liquidation. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back down 99 cents at $372.00 on October 21.
On Wednesday President Trump stated that cattle producers need to “get their prices down” in a Truth Social post that sent the market lower in a hurry. Reports also suggest he is looking to buy 4 times the normal quota of beef from Argentina (80,000 MT). Later in the day on Wednesday, USDA also released plans to help expand the US herd, in part by opening up more federal lands for grazing.
USDA Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were mixed in the Wednesday PM report, narrowing the Chc/Sel spread to $17.04. Choice boxes were down $1.28 to $370.65, while Select was $1.04 higher at $353.61 USDA federally inspected cattle slaughter for Wednesday was estimated at 118,000 head, with the weekly total at 327,000 head. That is 19,000 head below last week and 41,923 shy of the same week last year.
Oct 25 Live Cattle closed at $239.050, down $4.625,
Dec 25 Live Cattle closed at $239.825, down $5.600,
Feb 26 Live Cattle closed at $240.375, down $5.900,
Oct 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $365.075, down $7.850,
Nov 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $364.225, down $9.250,
Jan 26 Feeder Cattle closed at $361.025, down $9.250,
