Cattle feeders in the South saw a rise in their cash market for the second consecutive week. The trade was lower than what producers wanted, but most of the live cattle trade was $117-$118.
The feeders in the North were able to push their market higher. With tighter supplies packers had to push the market to higher levels. Cash traded developed at $118 earlier in the week and by Friday most cash cattle were bringing $120-$121. Dressed cattle traded mostly in the lower $190’s.
There had been much talk about how many deliveries the industry might see as we head into this first week of April. The rise in the cash market Friday may have narrowed up the basis enough to put some of the deliveries on hold for now. The cash market still feels like it will continue to rise as we go forward for the next couple of weeks.
